Gaea: Solving the Enigma
by Gaea
Summary: A new mutant with air powers! Another Diane fic! Finally chaptered up! A bit of confilct between Havok and her, and a bit of innuendo and language, for the rating. :)
1. Recruit

Jean was the only person waiting outside Cerebro for the Professor. Scott and Aurora were teaching classes.  
  
"There's another one." He said calmly as he wheeled out of the big round room. Jean didn't have to ask. "An air-warper. I'm surprised I didn't see her before. She lives in New York. I think we should pick her up." Jean nodded.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"SoHo. Though I'd be careful. She's 19, older than most. She probably won't trust you right off."  
  
"Who are you sending?"  
  
"You and Logan. Her name is Diane Fischer. 4'10", blond hair, blue eyes." Jean nodded again.  
  
"You think she'll put up a fight?"  
  
"Almost certainly. She's 19, remember. And her power is the kind that acts without her consent. One of the reasons I want to recruit her. Before she hurts someone.  
  
"Are you sure about Logan? I know he means well.but he's.well, he's violent."  
  
"Diane can hold her own, Jean." Phoenix nodded. He knew best. "You'll need the mini-Cerebro."  
  
"And Logan." She disappeared to go find him. Professor X closed his eyes.  
  
"Good luck." He murmured, somehow thinking that they'd need it.  
  
Diane sighed, leaning on the wall of one of the many alleys of SoHo. Though you wouldn't know it from her face, she was sick of the city life. She'd been attacked three times that day. She glared at her feet, planted solidly an inch or so above the ground.  
  
She was pretty much as the Professor had described her. She was extremely short, had long blond hair to her feet (In a braid), and intense blue eyes and a snubbed nose. She wore a plain blue tank top and mini, with knee-high boots. There was a silver necklace in a Celtic pattern around her neck.  
  
She heard someone, no two someone's, coming down 'her' alley. She got ready for more trouble, carefully inspecting both the people as they walked into the alley between the stores.  
  
One of them was a short man. He looked scruffy and was heavily muscled. He'd be trouble, if it came to a fight. The other was a tall woman with red hair and glasses. She didn't look particularly tough, but one could never tell. By now, Diane was pretty experienced. They were looking for her. Probably government types.  
  
"Alright." She said in a soft, nonetheless commanding voice. It betrayed nothing of what she was feeling. "I know what you're after. You can't have it. I won't turn myself in. Just leave and no one gets hurt."  
  
The one with red hair sighed, the man looked grumpy. "I know you might find it hard to believe, Diane, but we aren't here for the government, and we aren't here to hurt you. My name is Jean Grey, and this is Logan. We're here with a proposal-"  
  
Diane cut her off with her same, eerily void voice. "Yeah, a proposal that I turn myself in and get tagged. Sure."  
  
"We are from Xavier's School for the Gifted." Jean continued, ignoring her. "A school for mutants like you. You need training. Your power is out of control." She stared at Diane's feet pointedly.  
  
"They're always like that." Diane said coolly. "Now, you leave, or there'll be trouble."  
  
"Oh, good. Been lookin' for a fight." Growled the short man, Logan. Jean gave him a look, which he ignored. She gauged the man's height with her mind. Instead of backing away from him, she did the unexpected.ran forward, flipping over his head. She heard a funny *snickt* sound as she did it. Jean looked surprised for a moment, then threw out one of her hands. Diane froze midair.  
  
"Let 'er down, Jeannie." Logan grumbled. "She wants to fight, let her fight." Jean slowly put Diane back on the ground.  
  
"Do you believe us now?" She asked quietly. Logan walked around Diane. She vaguely noticed that he had claws coming out of his hands.  
  
Diane nodded slowly.  
  
Logan disappeared as soon as Jean stopped the car inside the huge iron gates. Diane ignored the fact and followed Jean up the long winding driveway. Jean kept throwing glances at her as if she thought that Diane was nervous or something.  
  
Actually, but the time they'd finished winding up the long drive and had climbed the huge marble steps to stand in front of the giant wooden front doors, she was anticipating something, but she was not by any means nervous.  
  
Jean pushed the door open, the slight creak not quite covering up Diane's small gasp of surprise. The foyer was huge. It went up and up, making everything echo. There was a huge marble staircase that went up to the second level. Jean headed off to the corridor on the first floor. It was paneled with wood. There were many doors leading off of it, but Jean headed directly to one of the first doors, pushing it open.  
  
In it was the strangest assortment of high-school kids Diane had ever seen. There was a boy with frizzy hair, a girl with green skin, and another boy with four arms. One girl, who had black hair streaked with white near her brows waved to Jean, who waved back slightly. A girl with short blond hair at the same tables at the skunk girl smiled at Diane, who didn't smile back.  
  
At the front of the room was a tall black woman with ice-blue eyes and shocking white hair. She looked up questioningly.  
  
"Jean?" She asked in a soft voice.  
  
"Just bringing around a new-"  
  
"I'm not a student yet, Jean Grey." Diane said coldly. The teacher looked surprised. Jean ignored it.  
  
"Aurora Munroe, this is Diane Fischer." Diane looked slightly resentful.  
  
"Sorry to disrupt your class, 'Ro." Jean said, shooting a look at Diane, who looked slightly smug. She's almost, -almost- gotten the telepath exasperated with her. However, Jean, she could tell, was the sort of person who gave up on people. She'd take some work. Diane supposed she was being impossible negative, but she didn't want a -telepath- on her case. Jean, if she didn't get rid of her, would feel responsible for bringing her to the mansion. Diane didn't want to be "her little recruit".  
  
The next room they stopped in had a medium height man with brownish blondish hair at the front. He had red tinted sunglasses. He stopped talking when he saw Jean.  
  
"Yes, Jean?" He sounded annoyed to be interrupted, but he was attempting to be nice and calm when talking to Jean.  
  
"Just bringing around a."  
  
"Visitor." Diane said firmly.  
  
Again, Jean ignored her. "Scott Summers, Diane Fischer."  
  
Scott's sunglasses flashed red when he nodded. "Anything else?" He asked, scanning his class, or at least, looking like he was behind his glasses. His class was mostly boys.  
  
They left. "One more class." Jean said, sounding friendly. Diane said nothing. She heard Jean give a tiny sigh.  
  
The last room was different. All the desks were pushed to one side. There were two "children" in the room. One of them was a tall girl with red hair. She was part cat, she had ears fangs, claws, and a tail. The other one was a tall boy (everyone was tall to her), with platinum blond hair. His hand was directly through the chair in front of him, and he seemed to have forgotten about it while he was staring at her.  
  
There was a man behind the teacher's desk. Diane knew instantly it was the Professor. He was bald, had blue eyes and a calm, kind face. He would have been tall as well, but he was in a wheelchair. He smiled at her.  
  
"Hello Diane." He said softly. He held out one hand. Diane didn't take it. The boy shifted, taking his hand out of the chair. The girl growled softly.  
  
"Cyrene, she has no reason to trust me." The professor said softly. Diane whirled around. She hadn't heard the cat girl come up behind her. Her eyes met the leaf green ones of Cyrene's. This one was like her. Her eyes shone with loyalty, anger, and defiance. Diane shifted her gaze back to the professor.  
  
(((You can trust us, Diane.))) He said. His lips didn't move. Diane growled.  
  
"She.ah.has an.-aversion-.to telepaths." Jean said, speaking for the first time.  
  
There was an angry hiss from Cyrene, and Diane had time enough to turn before the half-cat redhead was on her. She felt and instant of claws on skin before Diane screeched and slid out of her grasp. Cyrene launched herself again. She smashed into something invisible before she reached Diane. She hissed again, her eyes spiteful. "Warper." She snarled.  
  
"Oh, good." Diane said calmly. "We both dislike certain kinds of mutants. Luckily for me, Changelings and power detectors aren't on my list."  
  
"Cyrene, back off." The boy said, sounding worried. "Don't fight her now. Think of the impression your making." Cyrene glared at him. Jean said nothing, but the professor made a gesture to her, and she left.  
  
"Very good, Diane. Your first lesson starts now." Diane didn't argue, she was still busy holding up her wall. "Cyrene?" The professor said, indicating for the cat to continue what she'd been doing. Diane's wall disappeared without a trace. She staggered sideways.  
  
"Bruce." Cyrene said shortly. The blond boy touched the chair, it glowed brightly for a second, and Diane fell right through it. For a moment, her blue eyes met his brown ones.  
  
"You're welcome." He said, as though her glance had said thank you. Diane was slightly surprised. She -had- meant thank you. Usually, most people couldn't interpret her that well. She ducked suddenly, years of training telling her that Cyrene had attacked her again. When Cyrene flew over her head, Diane rolled onto her back and used her feet to help the changeling to fly. She threw herself right. Claws slashed her arm instead of her face. She ended up directly in front of the glaring Cyrene. Diane flipped backwards, both of her feet catching the cat-girl under the chin.  
  
"Cyrene. She's won this match." The professor said calmly when Cyrene rolled to her feet, looking murderous.  
  
"This time." Cyrene growled. Suddenly, much to the surprise of Diane, she smiled. "You fight well, for a warper." She looked extremely odd for a second as her eyes turned gold, then green again; her fangs, ears, claws, and tail disappeared.  
  
"Why do you say that?" Diane asked, sounding almost curious.  
  
"Warpers depend on their power too much." Cyrene said, sounding unshakeable; nothing was going to change her mind any time soon. Diane glanced at Bruce, who shrugged. He was a warper too. The professor smiled.  
  
"Very good Cyrene. Bruce?" The boy shrugged. He was still watching Diane with considering brown eyes. Diane, so good at hiding her own emotions, found it easy to interpret others.  
  
Admiration: She'd beaten Cyrene. Admiration: She was beautiful. Admiration: She spoke for herself, and didn't care what other people thought of her. Curiosity: New kid. Sadness: She was lonely.  
  
Diane's analysis of Bruce was broken by a strange noise from Cyrene. She hadn't noticed that she and Bruce were standing perfectly still, staring at each other. The professor watched silently.  
  
Bruce had his own ideas about Diane laid out. She hid her emotions because she was afraid of them. She was lonely. She needed a friend who would talk to her even if she did push them away. Bruce, usually absent-minded and thickskulled, was very clear-headed about this. He'd talk to Rogue and do his best.  
  
"You fight much?" He asked.  
  
"All my life." She replied. It was like a game, talking to her, he contemplated, something he didn't do often. One wrong move and she'd win. What game it was, he had no idea. He didn't have a head for that kind of complicated thinking.  
  
She blinked her pretty blue eyes at him a couple times and flipped backwards and handsprung across the room. Bruce followed her warily. She went forward this time, launching off the wall, turning in midair, she touched down for a brief instant on his shoulder before flipping off again. She landed almost where she'd started.  
  
Bruce faced her, more cautiously this time. He gauged her weaknesses. Her height, her weight, her wounded arm and impulse reaction. He spun to the right. She felt his foot hit the side of her head before she hit the ground and rolled. He'd been aiming at her ribcage to knock the wind out of her.  
  
However, he'd been expecting her to duck, and he spun the other way. She just had time to slam a wall of her power between them. The same thing would happen to him that had happened to Cyrene.  
  
Except it didn't work. She was bowled over with Bruce on top of her. He'd won. He winked at her, but she gave him a look reminiscent of Wolverine's and shoved him off.  
  
"You've had training." She said calmly, not even winded.  
  
"Yup." He said, just as smooth.  
  
"Very good Bruce, though I would have liked a little more use of your power there. If you two will leave us?" The professor asked gently.  
  
Cyrene left, throwing another look and a smile at Diane, who nodded. Bruce touched the chair again, and left, stopping for a second at the door. "Lunch?" He asked simply. Diane raised an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a yes."  
  
Diane turned slowly to look at the professor.  
  
"I'll stay." 


	2. Blind Attraction

He nodded. "One moment, I need to find someone to show you around. Not Jean." He said, reading her thoughts -literally-. "She's teaching. "Maybe." He closed his eye for a second, searching the mansion. "Ah. Alex."  
  
Diane nodded. "Alex. Let's hope it's not another telepath."  
  
"No. He's Scott's younger brother. You'll probably like him more than anyone else I can come up with at the moment. There's Gambit but I don't-"  
  
"Darn right she'll like me better than that good for nothing flirt." Said a voice behind her. She whirled around, and almost stumbled backwards. It took a lot of self-control to keep her mouth from falling open.  
  
1 OOoooooooooooOOOooOOhhhh lord.this is going to be a problem. She thought absently. He was -hot-. He looked like his brother, sort of. He had blond hair, he was tall, and he had a tan.oooooooo.  
  
His eyes caught her. She almost stepped back. His eyes were exactly like hers. The exact same color. He smiled, sending a shiver through her, and tilted his head to one side. He winked at her. She didn't glare.  
  
'Ah...Diane.Alex." Diane nodded, Alex smirked. "Now, Alex, if you'd be so kind as to show Diane around the mansion, I have a class to get to." Diane didn't say anything. If she did, she knew she'd sound weird. Alex already knew the effect he had on her; she didn't need everyone to know. Even if they -were- telepaths.  
  
Alex was watching her. She gauged that he was about 6 or so years older that her. Rrrrg. Poor Bruce. She shook her head, looking grumpy for a second. Then her face resettled. No. She was -not- attracted to Alex. She was -not- going to chase him.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll show you where you'll be living first, anyway." He spoke again. She had to fight not to swoon or something. He smirked again. "It's upstairs, c'mon.or.do you need help?"  
  
"No." Diane snapped, mad at herself for acting like this. She slammed up the stairs loudly. Alex was still watching her, amusement plain on his face.  
  
"I'm guessing you have lunch planned?"  
  
"Bruce."  
  
"Good kid."  
  
Diane suddenly stopped, slamming him against the wall. "Don't make it any worse than it is." She warned in a low growl, though if from anger, or the fact she was so close to him, she didn't know. Alex looked unruffled.  
  
"Oh, I won't. You've just smashed me into the door of my room. You must be a telepath." Diane started, then let go of him.  
  
"Alright then, where's -my- room?"  
  
"As much as I'd like to say 'right here', it's across the hall."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"I'll misinterpret that on purpose. Yes, it is big." He pushed the door open. It -was- big, but just his being there made it feel unbearably small. She was hot for no apparent reason.  
  
"Nice." She said, hoping she still sounded normal. He pushed her gently out of the room. Her heart rate tripled when he touched her arm.  
  
"Damn." That was him this time. He was staring at her.  
  
"Look." She said, hoping desperately that she still sounded normal but knowing she was husky. "I can't pretend it doesn't exist.but I won't bother you about it, even if I can't." She stopped. "Breathe." She finished not what she was going to say, originally. At least she wasn't the only person who sounded different now. His voice was definitely lower.  
  
"No. No pretending here. But I will have to talk to you about it. Dinner. And," He smiled, making her pulse speed up again, "I'll have Bruce give you the tour since I can't even think straight."  
  
Diane nodded, dimly wondering if Bruce was such a good idea either. Alex had apparently conjured Bruce out of somewhere, since the boy came ambling down the hall at that moment. He glanced at Diane, then at Alex. Diane stepped away from Alex.  
  
"Think what you like, but it isn't what you think, Bruce." Alex said calmly. "And I need you to give Diane the tour, since I can't keep coherent thought near her." Bruce nodded his eyes still on Diane.  
  
She was flushed. He touched her arm lightly. Her skin was burning. She turned to look at him questioningly. Her eyes were dark pools.  
  
"Nothing, sorry." He murmured, and, on the pretense of leading her off down the hall, grabbed her wrist. Her pulse was slowing down, but it was still way faster than what was normal. She didn't jerk her hand away, so he ended up holding her hand, which was more than he could have hoped for.  
  
The tour went well, ending with a pleasant lunch. Diane soon warmed up to him, though she never let her guard down, and she never showed her emotions. He could see Alex watching her from across the room, and once or twice their eyes met. Bruce could almost feel the heat between them.  
  
"That'll be a problem." He said, the third time this happened.  
  
"Huh?" Diane said, faintly disoriented, still lost in the depths of Alex's blue eyes.  
  
"Alex. He'll be a problem."  
  
"Why?" Diane asked, wondering to herself how he could be a problem to people as long as there were any women on the earth.  
  
"He's -Alex-, that's why. He's a teacher. He's seven years older than you."  
  
"I didn't ask for it, you know." Diane said, turning her own depthless easy-to-get-lost-in blue eyes onto Bruce's brown ones. Bruce personally found her eyes probably as disorienting as she found Alex's.  
  
"People say.when that happens, they were meant for each other. That attraction was the human race's way of forcing people that were perfect for each other together. But."  
  
"I know. But if it's happened to you, it's so hard to fight."  
  
"I know." Bruce said so softly that she didn't hear him. He had a problem here. A -serious- problem. A problem with Alex.  
  
The next day was Diane's first.of classes. She had all her classes with either Bruce or Cyrene, luckily. She struggled through the whole day by pretending she couldn't feel anything. For her last class, Cyrene and Bruce, as well as the girl with white-streaked hair beckoned her over to the table.  
  
Bruce was eyeing the door funny. Diane ignored him. Cyrene smiled at her. "Diane, this is Rogue."  
  
Rogue corrected her, "Marie." She said with a distinctly southern accent.  
  
"Marie." Diane nodded firmly.  
  
"Uh.Di?" Bruce finally spoke. Diane liked her new nickname, and made sure that no one else called her that. She glanced up, and promptly fell out of her chair.  
  
Alex.  
  
It took all of her control, all five years built control to get up and sit back down, looking unruffled. Rogue and Cyrene were watching her. Alex's bright blue eyes swept the classroom, then stopped on her. She heard him mutters something reminiscent of,  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Damn yourself, Summers." She snapped. Most of the students were staring at her now. It crossed her mind that Alex was a teacher not to be crossed. Most of them were amazed that she had the daring to talk back to him, and on the border of awe.  
  
"-Mr.- Summers to you, Fischer." He said, somehow sounding cool despite sudden heat in the room.  
  
"Diane." She growled. The students were all silent now. They seemed to be holding a collective breath. She contemplated for a moment what he would do to her.  
  
He stared at her for a long moment, his blue eyes unreadable. Finally, he walked back up to the front of the room, leaving her challenge lying heavy in the air. Cyrene glanced at Alex, then at Diane, and finally her eyes met Rogue's. They both burst out giggling. Diane ignored them, and kicked Bruce under the table. He looked pained.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me it was -him-?" She hissed.  
  
"Your schedule."  
  
".Said -Summers-! I thought it was -Scott-!"  
  
Bruce shrugged. Marie elbowed her. Diane turned her head, only to fall into blue again. Damn. She thought absently.  
  
"Diane, must you be so distracting?" He asked. That was something, at least. His use of her first name meant she had one her first battle with him. But the war was far from over. This was something else. She wasn't exactly sure whether he meant she was being distracting to the class or to him. She suspected the latter, since his eyes had gone darker.  
  
"Sorry, Summers." She muttered, refusing to call him Mr. He stared at her for another moment, something about his eyes that she couldn't quite classify. It was strangely like pity. Then he went back to the front of the room. Marie elbowed her again.  
  
"You like him, don't you?" She asked, grinning.  
  
"Its more complicated than that, I'm afraid." She said with a sigh. Both of them looked puzzled. A look flitted across Bruce's face. "He's watching me isn't he?"  
  
Bruce nodded. He was watching Alex, and there was a look almost like dislike in his brown eyes. The air between the two of them practically shimmered with heat and attraction. Desire. Passion. Things Bruce didn't understand, and didn't think Diane understood any better. But he hated the way Diane's eyes went dark when she looked at Alex, didn't like the heat in Alex's ever present gaze.  
  
The whole class was absolute torture for Diane, who couldn't look up without drowning in blue. It was torture to Bruce, who hated to see Diane like that. Torture for Rogue, who wanted to help her new friend any way she could, wanted to understand.  
  
Just as Diane was about to duck out of the class with Rogue (Cyrene and Bruce still had their class with the Professor), She felt Alex's warm hand on her shoulder, making her heart stop, then start again so fast she felt dizzy. Rogue could see the effect he had on her, and she looked confused beyond words.  
  
"You never met me for dinner." He said, sounding husky. He still hadn't taken his hand off her shoulder. Diane shifted.  
  
"I was so tired after last night.I just fell asleep." Alex nodded.  
  
"Understandable."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Tonight, then."  
  
Diane nodded and shuffled out of the room, still feeling the heat of Alex's hand as if he'd scorched her skin.  
  
Marie followed her, still confused. She didn't understand what could make her usually emotionless friend act so strange. The way she -talked- to Alex.always with their identical blue eyes locked.always with few words as thought their darkened blue eyes said more that earthly words could say. The way Diane stared at him as though she could see nothing else, how Alex never once took his eyes off her during the lesson. Diane had only been here one day! Surely she didn't know Alex so well already that she flushed every time he touched her skin, every time he was near her.  
  
She followed Diane silently back to her room. Diane, thinking, didn't hear her. She flopped on her bed, exhausted from the terrors and problems of the day. Rogue knocked and then walked in. She sat in the chair at the desk. "What is it, Diane?" She asked, cutting to the chase.  
  
"I dunno, Marie." Diane said hopelessly. "Heat. Attraction. Desire." She sighed. That's what I feel, what I see in his eyes." She sighed again, turning on her bed to look at Marie. "His eyes.so blue.drives me crazy.I get lost.don't understand." It was hopeless, Rogue could tell.  
  
"Well, dinner should help. You can talk to him about it."  
  
"Yeah, that and other things." They both jumped. Alex. He was leaning on the doorframe. It sent an electric shock through her. Rogue disappeared.  
  
Diane didn't eat anything. Neither did she say anything. Alex ate, but not very much. He said nothing either. The silence just let the tension grow, until Diane was about to snap.though whether she'd kill him or throw herself at him, she didn't know.  
  
"I dunno why I did this. We can't talk here. C'mon." They went back to her room, where she sat on her bed and he paced. "You're right. It's confusing, blind attraction. But it's useless to fight. It'll win somehow. Its what happens when it fades that's the problem. I thought it would never happen to me again.I suppose that's why it hit me so hard this time. And if it's never happened to you."  
  
Diane stared of him. He talked of it so casually, like it was something that happened to him all the time. "I.I...don't." Her mind snapped clear all of a sudden, when it'd been blurred by the blueness of his eyes. "You.you're suggesting."  
  
". That we stop fighting." She must have looked terrified or shocked, or both, because he said, "I won't push you further than you're willing to go." Diane wondered whether he had that much control. She knew she didn't.  
  
Then his eyes caught hers. It sent a shock through her.the feeling was so much stronger now that neither of them was really trying to push it back. She could have sworn the suddenly smaller distance between them was crackling with it, since it was almost too powerful to be contained in their eyes.  
  
It took every ounce of her control to step away from him, walk past him, and outside, gasping the blessedly cool air. She knew she'd have to give into the undeniable pull to Alex some day. But I've only been here one day. She told herself. Right now, I'll concentrate on Bruce. 


	3. The New Team

She wandered the darkening grounds, and found a seat near the pool and soon lost herself in the orange and red. She didn't notice Bruce come and sit next to her. At the moment, he just sat there, enjoying her albeit quiet company. He'd seen her leave the dining hall with Alex. He hadn't really expected to see until tomorrow's classes, considering what he saw between them, but he wasn't about to bring the subject up.  
  
"Nice sunset isn't it?" He jumped. He hadn't expected her to say anything. "Too much red." She contemplated.  
  
"I like the red."  
  
"At least it isn't blue."  
  
"Sick of it already?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What do you think of the school?"  
  
"It's nice to be around people like me. Nice to be back in school."  
  
"Speaking of kids like you, the Professor wants you to join our power lessons. They're every day after normal classes. We have the last class together-" She made a face, he grinned, "-So you can just follow me and Cyr. Marie might come sometime.  
  
Diane stared at him. "Really?" She said, sounding incredulous. This was the reason she had joined the school.  
  
"Really. You need to know how to control and fight with your power. The ones who train with the professor will get to be part of the X-men. Kitty and Bobby should be joining. Johnny might, and Kurt definitely. We'll have to move to a bigger room."  
  
Bruce smiled. This was good. -This- was how he wanted to see Diane, her eyes shining with anticipation, almost smiling. Not the dark, troubled eyes, or the icy, anger-filled ones. She was beautiful all the time, but like this she was positively radiant.  
  
"Oh, that sounds like so much fun!" She cried, leaping off the bench and practically dancing up to the mansion.  
  
She ran into Jean in the hall. She was so happy, she forgot to be nasty to the telepath. "Hi Jean!" She said, stopping in the middle of a dance step.  
  
"Hi, Diane." Said Jean, looking surprised at Diane's sudden change in attitude towards her. "Liking school?"  
  
"Loving it!"  
  
"Liking the teachers?" Jean asked with a grin. She had Diane in two of her classes. To her surprise, Diane looked down. Jean used her power without conscience thought. Alex. Damn. She'd -known- he'd be a problem. However, she said nothing. "Well, you're doing well. Any problems?"  
  
"Actually, where's Logan?" Jean eyed her for a long moment, as though it was fishy to wonder where someone was.  
  
"In the garage, why?"  
  
"I don't think I made a very good impression on him."  
  
"It's usually the other way around."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Logan doesn't usually make good impressions either."  
  
Diane ignored the comment. "See you around, Jean."  
  
Diane walked into the garage. It was dark and cool, the smell from all the vehicles touched her nose. She almost sneezed. Her eyes roved over the cars, finding Jean's next to a bunch of other ones that looked similar. Other uniform cars, a mini, a convertible, a van, racers, and finally.motorcycles. Lots of them. Rows of them. And Logan, who was at the end of them, running a cloth over a black Harley that probably didn't need it.  
  
He looked up before she got anywhere near him. "Whaddya need, kid?"  
  
"Just wanted to apologize for attacking you the other day."  
  
"No prob. They usually don't send me to go get kids. If they do, it's for a tough case." He grinned. She nodded, her eyes on the bikes. "Y'like bikes, kid?"  
  
"Love'm. My boyfriend used to be a biker." It really was a wonderful machine. It was huge, practically humming with life; it was so well cared for. She ran her fingertips lightly over the seat and handlebars.  
  
"Beauty, innit it?"  
  
"You ride this thing with the X-men? Your X-bike, so to speak?" He frowned at the term slightly.  
  
"You could say that." Diane smiled. Maybe, if she ever became an X-man, she'd have a bike like that. As if he read her mind, he said, "You can use the bikes with Chuck's approval. Anyone who touches mine gets gutted."  
  
She grinned. "Who's Chuck?" She asked, fully intending to ask him if she could ride once in a while.  
  
"The Prof., you kids call him."  
  
"Ah. Do you literally mean "gut" someone?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Your claws?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"They're neat. I have claws." She held out one of her small hands. She had long nails on all of her fingers. He grinned. Despite his rough exterior, Diane contemplated, his gruff manner with kids, and freaky claws, he -is- pretty cool. "Look, I'm going inside. I'm beat. See you around. I'll be back out here to look at them again. He nodded, and her eyes met his. She was accepted.  
  
Wolverine watched her go. He smiled. She was a good kid. She fought, and she loved bikes. Maybe he had found his student at last. All the boys went off to Cyk's class about cars and stuff. She wasn't afraid of him like they were, she thought his claws were neat instead of creepy, and knew, probably a revelation prompted by Rogue, that he could be nice.  
  
The next day, Diane found Marie in several of her other classes. They always sat together and had soon established a firm friendship. Diane was both horrified and saddened by Marie's power. As averted as she was to human emotion, or connecting people, she simply couldn't imagine life without human contact, especially when her shoulder still burned where Alex's hand had been.  
  
She was wrapped up in thought and didn't notice Marie wave the girl with short blond hair over, the girl who had smiled at Diane the first day. She smiled at Diane again. Since Cyrene didn't have Lit. with them, it was just her, Bruce, Marie and the blond girl who Marie introduced as Kitty. Many of the boys in the class were shooting jealous glances at Bruce, who always seemed to be in the middle of the girls.  
  
"Sorry about being so rude the first day, Kitty."  
  
"Like, no prob., Diane. You, like, probably had, like, all this -stuff- on your mind." She was a definite fluff-head and valley girl, but Diane instantly liked her. "I, like, did when I started school, and I'm, like, glad they didn't give up on me."  
  
Bruce finally spoke. "The Prof. wants us all in the gym after classes. Cyrene's coming, and so are Bobby and Johnny." Rogue looked happy.  
  
"Yes!" Kitty said, slapping Marie's shoulder. "Bobby and Johnny are, like, -tagged-!"  
  
Rogue looked happier. "I -told- Bobby he'd get it!" Diane tipped her head to one side, considering.  
  
"Your boyfriend?" She asked. Marie blushed faintly. Kitty grinned. This was more her area that classes were.  
  
"Marie's going out with Bobby, and I'm like going out with Kurt." She turned her eyes onto Bruce. "Like, Kurt wasn't tapped?"  
  
"Probably, I just didn't get much of a chance to talk to him." Diane was considering again.  
  
"Johnny doesn't have a girlfriend?" She was just curious. She had enough problems as it was without another boy in the way. It was a simple question, but they all said,  
  
"Cyrene." At the same time. All three girls looked at Bruce at the same time and burst out laughing. Storm came over to their table.  
  
"Is there a problem here?" She asked Bruce. This set them off even worse.  
  
Diane struggled through her last class. It really was daily torture. Cyrene and Marie tried to be supportive, but Bruce only looked grumpy. She managed to escape without Alex trapping her again.  
  
She, Cyrene, and Rogue walked down to the basement level one together. The professor and a boy with blond hair and blue eyes were already there. The professor smiled at them. "Ah, Diane, this is Bobby." Bobby smiled at her.  
  
"Hi. Hey Marie." He had a nice voice. It was soft and calm, with sincerity. Diane liked the way he talked to Rogue. Kitty walked directly through the wall behind the professor.  
  
"Like, sorry Prof. I had to, like, talk to 'Ro about something." The professor nodded.  
  
"Come in Johnny, this is the right room." A boy with flaming red hair, brown eyes and freckles walked in. He gave a shy wave to everyone. He was followed closely by a tall boy with straight black hair and slightly slanted gray eyes. Kitty grinned. Must be Kurt.  
  
"I think that's everyone but-" The professor stopped. A boy with black hair, black eyes, black clothes, and pale skin walked in. "-Aubrey." Finished the professor. Everyone else looked surprised. Rogue looked upset, Kitty angry, Bruce unhappy, and Cyrene grumpy. Johnny and Bobby looked puzzled, but Kurt's gray eyes were narrowed with hate.  
  
"For the benefit of Diane, our newest member, how I pieced this team together and why." Aubrey snorted. Cyrene growled at him. "I'll start with Diane, an air-warper. She makes solid things and can teleport. Then there's Bruce, who can phase solid objects, or make them immaterial. Kitty can phase herself or others and walk on air. Bobby makes ice from moisture in the air. Cyrene, who can shapechange to cougar and can detect and sometimes control gifts. Johnny, who can create and control fire. Marie, who absorbs life energy and powers. Kurt, a teleporter with agility. And Aubrey, a tp-tk."  
  
Diane growled. "A tp-tk on my team?" She hissed. "So wise?"  
  
"Diane. It is the mix of powers I have been looking for for years. And you already get along."  
  
"Not with Aubrey." Marie commented.  
  
"You will accept him or leave the team. That goes for any of you." Marie nodded slowly. "You all had code names, with the exception of Diane. Diane had noticed quickly how everyone around here seemed to have two names, one that was the name they were given, and one a name that they made for themselves that somehow described their power.  
  
"Gaea."  
  
"Good, then we have Gaea, Specter," he looked at Bruce for a long moment. "Shadowcat." Kitty. "Iceman." Bobby. "Cougar." Cyrene. "Torch." Johnny. "Rogue." Marie. "Nightcrawler." Kurt. "And Vampyr." Aubrey.  
  
"Now. Cyrene, Kurt, Bruce, and Kitty already have their costumes. Kurt?" The quiet boy touched his watch. His image wavered, than disappeared. Diane blinked several times.  
  
He'd gone -blue-. His skin was covered in blue peach fuzz, and he had curly black hair, glowing golden eyes, a spaded tail, and fangs. His suit was black and formfitting. There was a red V on his neck, and his hands and feet (three fingers each) where white.  
  
No one else seemed particularly phased by Kurt's sudden blueness. Cyrene shifted, her eyes turning gold, fur sprouting over her whole form, claws, fangs.In instants, she was a full, sleek cougar. She blinked her gold eyes demurely at Diane, who realized that she was staring. Guess that's her costume, then.  
  
Kitty and Bruce came back from somewhere. Kitty was wearing a billowy blue blouse and pants. Bruce was wearing a white t-shirt that pulled tight over the muscles on his chest and normal blue jeans.  
  
Diane grinned. Now -this- was her sort of thing, fashioning. She tilted her head to one side, carefully considering. Green for Gaea, something that she could move in.  
  
Diane glowed brilliant white for a second before stumbling out of her little ball of light. She could hear Marie gasp, Kitty squeal, Bruce make a funny strangled noise, and Aubrey snort derisively.  
  
She was wearing a simple forest green dress with a darker green neckline and hem. The hem was cut high on her left side, slanting down on her right. The straps were simple spaghetti, the material was soft, hugging her form perfectly. She had a headband made entirely of dark green beads. She had long green gloves that went past her elbows. She wore knee-high green boots.  
  
The professor looked faintly surprised. Diane snapped her fingers. "Oops. Still looks too much like me." Bruce muttered something that sounded like 'that could be a plus'. Diane smirked at him, then glowed for a second. She now had a pure green cowl over her eyes. It made them look like a darker shade of blue. The professor cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him.  
  
"As I won't be around forever, I am appointing a new team leader."  
  
The door opened.  
  
Alex.  
  
He was wearing all black, though he wasn't in costume. Diane stumbled sideways. Rogue caught her.  
  
"Leadership in the family, huh, Prof.?" Diane growled dangerously.  
  
"Diane." Alex simply said her name, but his tone made her meet his eyes. There was the usual crash of emotion, but Alex was shoving it away, his eyes glowing with dominance.  
  
Diane screamed her fury. She packed all the strength in her small body behind her hand and slapped him hard enough to leave nail marks. He stumbled backwards, his hand automatically going to his cheek.  
  
"Diane!" Warned the professor, but she'd lost it now, all her fury at Alex and his calm acceptance that drove her nuts, boiling over. She jumped and spun at the same time, part of her wondering why he was smiling at her, and part of her too mad, too bent on wiping the smile off his face to care. Her foot, along with the two inches of platforms attached to them connected with the side of his head. He flew backwards, skidding two feet on the gym floor, unconscious.  
  
"DIANE!" The professor was mad now. But there was little he could do. Diane was thrown backwards by something invisible, and then pinned. Aubrey sauntered over to her, grinning maliciously. She snarled at him, struggling against her "bonds". They disappeared at a mere growl from Cyrene. Aubrey, who hadn't expected them to gang up on him, was bowled over by Diane's tackle. His head hit the concrete and he went limp. Everyone who had been in the battle or going to help suddenly froze. The professor wheeled into the middle of them, his eyes glittering with anger. They were all released.  
  
"If you cannot work together, -with your leader-, you cannot be a team. Anyone, -anyone-, who starts this kind of thing again will be off the team. Diane. Explain."  
  
Diane shifted, her whole body still trembling with anger, all of her fighting the urge to go bash Alex's head in. "Everything I do is connected to -him-!" She snarled, glaring malevolently at Alex's limp form. The air around her was glowing slightly. Bruce walked over to her and put an arm around her, as much to be comforting as to hold her back.  
  
"Professor.she's." He said. "She's." He couldn't explain it.  
  
"Bruce, do not get yourself into trouble." The professor said in a cold voice. This was the only time Bruce had ever heard him that mad.  
  
"Professor?" Marie looked nervous. The Prof. simply stared at her. "She's.well.he.sort of.has this effect on her.their eyes." The professor stared at Marie for a long moment, before turning his eyes onto Diane, searching for the truth in this. For once, Diane didn't have the courage to fight a telepath in her mind.  
  
"I understand your attraction to him." He said in a soft voice, "But I don't see any reason to attack him."  
  
"He. Is. In. Everything. I. Do!" She snarled. "I don't want to drown every time I -look- at him!"  
  
"Like it or not, he is your leader, and if you can't handle it, you can always leave."  
  
Alex was waking up. He stood up, his eyes on her. For some strange reason, there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Bruce practically had to dig his heels into the floor to keep her from flying at him.  
  
"Diane, calm down!" He hissed. Rrrg. I won't hit Bruce. I won't hit Bruce.  
  
"I'm leaving now. I do hope that you'll all get along, and -don't hurt Havok-." The doors swished open, and the professor wheeled out.  
  
As soon as the Professor was gone, Bruce let go of Diane. He'd actually like to see Alex get beaten up again, but he didn't know why. Diane stood, trembling slightly, wanting to tackle Alex, who just stood there, looking non-chalant.  
  
"You are a very good fighter, Diane. I didn't even see you coming." He said softly, walking over to her.  
  
"No shit, Sherlock." She growled, her blue eyes almost an icy color with anger.  
  
"Stop acting like Wolverine. He is not on this team. I want everyone to pair off. Bobby and Kitty. Bruce and Marie. Cyrene and Aubrey, and Johnny and Kurt."  
  
Diane hissed, knowing where that left her. "Calm down." He said, putting an hand on her arm. The next thing he knew, she'd thrown him over her hip, and he was on his back, staring up into her icy fury of eyes. "Now, -that- folks, was an excellent example of how you can disarm someone bigger and heavier than you." He said, standing up. "Now I want you all to spar.- Spar-, do not fight. Do -not- hurt anyone. You can use your power to confuse, but -not to hurt-! This is how I want you to fight against humans." He turned to face Diane. She tipped her head to one side, then sprang into the air, just where a beam of Alex's power hit where her feet had been. "Reflexes. Nice reflexes." She fell forward, hitting the ground with her arms and rolling, feeling another bolt of power ruffling her hair. She threw out a hand and the ground next to Alex's feet exploded, he stumbled left and tripped over the low wall of her power she'd put there. She threw herself left to avoid another blast. She ran up the air, dancing above his head an avoiding blasts of power.  
  
Finally, after watching her move and getting increasingly closer to hitting her feet, he hit right on. She fell. He managed to catch her, but she was unconscious from the shock running up her short legs.  
  
Bruce let go of his power, and Marie's fist hit his face. He stumbled, but made his way over to them, Rogue running after him. Everyone else stopped what he or she were doing, except for Aubrey and Cyrene, who had Vampyr in a headlock. Alex glared at her until she let go of him. Diane stirred.  
  
Diane didn't want to open her eyes. She was warm. She curled up tighter. Her face was in something soft. It smelled faintly of soap, faintly of oranges, and a lot like.  
  
Alex.  
  
Her eyes snapped open. He was holding her. His eyes met hers when he felt her move. She was instantly swallowed by blue.  
  
She was set gently on her feet. She was almost glad for Alex's strong arm around her, as she was suddenly tipsy. Bruce slid his arm possessively around her waist. Alex reluctantly let go, stepping back as if to prove he could do it.  
  
"And -that- is your lesson today." Alex said. 


	4. Bikes

Diane stomped off by herself, leaving everyone else to their homework. She wandered the grounds again, looking for peace but finding it no where. Logan was in the garage. Jean had a class on the lawn. She didn't know the mansion well enough to risk getting lost in the many passageways just to go exploring.  
  
She wandered out towards the back, getting herself lost in the seemingly endless trees. She sat down on log that was conveniently in her path. She stretched out on the log, faintly noticing that she was still wearing her green costume, including the cowl.  
  
Wolverine came up silently behind her. She's been so intent on getting away from people that she hadn't noticed she was being followed through all her wanderings, since Logan had seen her look into the garage and then disappear, finding it occupied.  
  
Wolverine came up silently behind her. He sat on the log. She opened her eyes.  
  
"What?" She demanded, then instantly wished she didn't sound so sharp. But he ignored her tone.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Alex." He really hadn't needed to ask the first questions. He could smell Alex all over, as well as Bruce. He sighed.  
  
"Don' like 'im?"  
  
"I do. That's the problem." She held her hands a couple inches from each other. "This is what's happening." She smacked her hands together. "This is about where we are." She held her hands almost, -almost- touching each other, but not, -not- quite. Then she mimed trying to pull her hands apart and not being able to do it.  
  
"Ah." He understood, and wasn't going to push it. She'd work it out for herself. Marie had told him she was a strong girl that could take care of herself. "I was goin' t' ask." He stopped for a second, "If y'd like t' work with th' bikes.I'd be willin' t' give y'." He hesitated again.  
  
Diane looked up, her eyes incredulous. "Really?"  
  
"Really. I've been lookin' for someone t' help."  
  
"Prof. won't let me. He's mad at me for beating on my leader."  
  
"I already asked. He said I could. Y'll need a bike, then, c'mon."  
  
Diane ran her fingers lightly over the forest green metal on 'Gaea1000'. "We won' run 'er t'day. Too late. After classes, including yer class with 'Lex , come up here. We'll run 'er t'morrow."  
  
Alex woke up around twelve to hear the panel by his bed beeping incessantly. He touched a few buttons on the plate near his head. A feminine computer modulated voice came out of the speaker.  
  
"INTRUDER ALERT."  
  
"Voice command, Alex Summers, where?"  
  
"UPPER GARAGE, LEFT SECTOR."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"LANGUAGE, ALEX."  
  
He'd forgotten Jean had programmed the machine with his cursing in mind. The last time the computer had told him off had been before he'd left the X- men the first time. Ah, well. One of the kids was in the motor cycles. Wouldn't be the first time. He pulled on jeans and a black t-shirt and set off at top speed, hoping the alert system hadn't wakened anybody else, and hoping to dear lord the kid hadn't taken Logan's bike.  
  
He reached the garage in time to hear the low growling of one of the bikes. He leaped onto one, absently forgetting a helmet, and started it with the ease of practice. He just saw the red light on the back of the cycle disappear, and shot his bike after it.  
  
Whoever was riding was good, he had to admit, to be driving in the dark. The thief's machine was at top speed, not counting supercharge mode, which he hoped to every god and saint he knew of, this person didn't know about. He knew how to drive with it, but he hated it, and he doubted whichever kid took the bike even knew where the button was, or how to drive it if he hit it on accident.  
  
Whoever it was swerved and shoved his bike sideways, spraying gravel all over his bike, and forcing him to stop, thus giving the other rider precious seconds to speed through the first set of gates with. Kicking his bike back to life and after the other rider, he wished he could tell who it was. Their helmet was jet black, and they were wearing black leather, making it impossible to tell what size or sex they were. The bike as also black.  
  
The other rider streaked down the lane speeding past the second pair of gates and, instead of taking the road to the city, skidded onto the one that led out towards the country. Alex growled. This person had ridden before. He was gaining on him, though, whoever it was hadn't ridden in a while. Suddenly, he was alongside the other bike. He saw the sleek black helmet turn to look at him.  
  
Well, whoever it was would know it was Alex. The information did not slow the other rider down. A leather gloved hand slammed the supercharge button down. Alex did too. They both streaked off, literal blurs.  
  
Damn, damn, damn he thought as he hurtled after the black cycle. Damn. He'd known where the button was. Damn. Someone who hung out with Logan. Damn. Marie? Damn.  
  
The supercharge button was punched so fast and the cycle in front of him slid lengthways in front of him in a perfectly timed stop that made him pop up so he could get the supercharge off and stop his bike, therefore pitching him onto the ground.  
  
"Enough of that, 'Lex?" Said a female voice from the helmeted figure. Whoever it was got off her bike in a practiced swing and helped him to his feet with one gloved hand.  
  
Looking at her off the bike, he had an awful thought. He glanced at the bike, which was green, not black. His eyes caught the plate. Gaea1000. He groaned.  
  
Diane pulled off her helmet, gold hair spilling over her black leather. For some reason she was very different than she had been during the day. She didn't seem mad at him. In fact, she was almost smiling. She was.- flirting-? Her eyes were shining with amusement, sparkling out of her perfectly smooth face, her gold hair in a total mess, shining in the soft light, stark on the dark leather.  
  
He fought, and won, barely, the sudden urge to kiss her. Maybe she didn't know exactly -how- good she looked in black. But he couldn't make himself yell at her. She was working her hardest not to smile now, still waiting for him to start telling her off. She absently ran her tongue over her dry lips, which was finally just too much for Alex.  
  
He took the two steps forward that separated them, trapping her between his arms. She looked surprised now, her mouth a little o, her eyes wide, blue, as innocent as the summer sky, though darkening quickly. He kissed her softly.  
  
She gasped. She'd been kissed.but she'd never, -never-, been kissed like this. Fire raced through her body, sweetness through her veins. She could feel the scorching heat of him even through her leather jacket.  
  
Suddenly he was gone. He'd stepped back before he did something he'd regret. His dark eyes met hers for a moment. He took the helmet from her, slipping it over her face. They both got on their bikes and roared back home, never having said a word to each other.  
  
Diane was exhausted the next day. She stumbled through classes, noting that Bruce had a black eye, and Marie watched her carefully. In power class, Alex paired her up with Cyrene, and by the end of the class, she was covered in scratches. Bruce, who was working with Alex seemed to be doing his best to smash the teacher up.  
  
After the class, anxiously dabbing a cut on her cheek, Diane hobbled up to the garage, knowing that Logan would know. However, Logan said nothing, and the tank on her bike was full. She ran 'Gaea1000' through all the speeds except super-charge, and Logan approved of her riding.  
  
Diane ambled down one of the halls towards her room, swinging her jet-black helmet absently. She almost whacked Bruce with it when he came around a corner unexpectedly. He ducked, then stood up with a grin.  
  
She probably had no idea, but her hair was in a tangled mess, helmet hair, there was a smudge of grease on her cheek, her eyes were shining with intense happiness, and she was very, very beautiful.  
  
"Hey Bru." She said, almost smiling.  
  
"Been busy. I was watching you."  
  
"You ride?"'  
  
"Some."  
  
"Got permission?"  
  
"Race ya."  
  
"You'll win."  
  
"Naw."  
  
"You're much better."  
  
"That's nothing in a race. Just a moment." She walked all the way back to her room without noticing. She came back out with her jacket and gloves.  
  
She'd decided on the old road that she'd raced Alex on the other night. Bruce was a good rider. He'd been modest. He didn't have a bike like she did. Of course it really wasn't her bike.she was just using it.  
  
She grinned under her helmet, and revved her engine twice. So did Bruce, and they shot off. He was very good. He cut her off. Instead of swerving, she tipped up and flew over him on a invisible ramp, her wheels spinning. She landed well in front of him, but the turns were starting to tell on her, and she was slowing down. So was he, but he was still gaining on her. She jumped again, but he managed to jump after her, before she'd quite gotten rid of her ramp. They raced along, her knee almost touching his. They kept going, occasionally sliding ahead of each other.  
  
The road branched off but didn't keep going. Unspokenly, this was the end for their race. Diane sped ahead for a moment, but before she would see what he'd done, he'd jumped her, landing well over the edge of the road. Diane squealed to a stop, pulled off her helmet, and hung it on her handlebars, grinning. Bruce turned around slowly. He actually looked nervous about something.  
  
"Dinner on the winner." He looked as if wondering whether she'd say no. She walked over and hugged him lightly.  
  
"Loser." She retorted.  
  
"Winner."  
  
"Loser." He had to give in now. She was practically nose to nose with him, faking a glare. He stepped backwards . She stepped forwards. He couldn't move now, she trapped him with her eyes. All of a sudden, Bruce just happened to realize how close they were.  
  
"Don't tempt me, Diane."  
  
"Am I really?" She asked innocently.  
  
"You've no idea."  
  
"Oh, but I do."  
  
"Well then, just for that, -I- pay for the movie."  
  
"Oh, there's a -movie-?" She asked innocently.  
  
"There is now."  
  
"Cool."  
  
She stepped backwards, and he had to fight not to step forward, as though a rubber band were connection them. She went to her bike, pushed a couple buttons, and it roared off without her.  
  
"Where does that leave me?" He asked plaintively, knowing.  
  
"With me on your back." She said with a mischievous grin.  
  
Diane grinned, on the back of Bruce's cycle. She was truly evil. They roared off. She probably wouldn't do this to anyone but Bruce, or maybe Alex if she was in a really good mood...but she leaned forward, running her long nails over the smooth muscles in Bruce's back. She felt him shudder slightly, and grinned a feline grin.  
  
"Diane, quit it! Do you want me to -crash-!" He asked after a moment or two. She was pleased to note that he sounded raspy, and he was definitely breathing faster. She stopped with her nails, though she did stay leaning on him, her breasts pressed lightly on his back. He should be nicely close to hyperventilating by the time they got back to the mansion. 


	5. A fight, a Dance, and a Song

Finally, the weekend. Diane left the mansion for a break to meet a friend of hers in SoHo, another mutant that she'd met in her long city life.  
  
She walked down the street, careful to watch everything. The people here knew what she was.  
  
She was jerked backwards, She hit the ground and rolled, cursing her long braid. She got to her feet. *blink* She was surrounded. Her eyes flitted carefully over everyone in the circle. All people she knew. She forced sadness away. They had once been her neighbors. "You know I can take you all out." She said softly. She got no response. The leader, her old boyfriend that rode the biked, stepped forward. He had taken it as a personal insult that she was a mutant. She'd been so shocked that he'd dropped her, but she wasn't now. She was so busy thinking, that she only felt the pain flare in her face for a second before she hit the ground and the darkness swallowed her.  
  
She woke up what seemed like an eternity later, but actually only was a couple minutes, but it'd been long enough for them to bring a chair from somewhere and tied her to it. They were still in a circle around her. Instead of reasoning with them, she worked on freeing her feet, using her power in strings controlled by her hands, which were behind her back. No one noticed. -Now- she'd reason.in a sense.  
  
"Now, either you people untie me, or you'll all end up on your backs and I'll just walk out of here. With my hands behind my back. She pulled her legs free for emphasis. They stared at her for a long moment and then rushed her as a single person.  
  
They'll never learn. She thought grimly as she spun, smashing the chair into someone's head. She jumped, landing on the back of a man who'd tried to tackle her. She bashed the chair down, and felt it slide from under her arms. Good.  
  
For all her spinning and quick moves, numbers were starting to tell on her. She took a hard punch and used the fall time to push the panic button on her 'watch'. I'll just have to hold my own. She though absently, spinning and feeling her braid hit someone hard.  
  
The distant rumbling told her help was coming. She used her almost drained power to stop three punches and a tackle. She'd thinned them some, she'd stepped up on her power so she'd be taller, and so she wouldn't trip over the five people she'd felled.  
  
Two black motorcycles. Alex. Bruce. For once, they seemed to be working together, to get to their one problem with each other. Her. Thank you lord. she thought. She took another hard punch, and used the last of her power to make a tunnel out of the fray.  
  
Bruce smacked a couple of them around while Alex helped her onto the back of his bike. Then he and Bruce turned, and, as if on cue, both fried a huge trench that would hold the neighbors for a while, anyway.  
  
Diane was dizzy. She'd never drained this much of her power. She was hanging onto Alex for dear life, but their touch didn't send the usual shock through her,  
  
Bruce glanced at Diane, and frowned under his helmet. She had both her arms around Alex's waist, and was leaning on him. She was tired out. To tired to feel the effects of being that close to Alex. Alex, however, was not immune. He almost skidded off the road when she slid her arms across his abdomen.  
  
Diane may have been too tired to feel the shock of electricity, but, as Bruce had thought, Alex was not. He couldn't not possibly concentrate on the road when she had both her arms across his stomach and her face was pressed onto his shoulder, her breath a warms flutter on his neck. He wobbled dangerously, but forced himself not to stop his bike and.no, he would -not think about that when he was driving.  
  
They got back to the mansion without crashing, thankfully. Bruce grumpily let Alex take Diane up to her room, since it was just across the hall from the teacher's.  
  
About halfway up the stairs, she collapsed. Alex picked her up.  
  
"You need to eat more." He told his burden, who was surprisingly light. He carried her up the rest of the stairs, grumbling to himself about people who starved themselves. Praying that the door was open, he pushed it open. It swung freely.  
  
He blinked, almost dropping Diane. She'd pushed the bed to one side, pulled up the rug, and cleared the floor, which was now smooth floorboards. She'd gotten a stereo system from somewhere, it was set up on one wall. On the other, a huge mirror that glittered oddly was leaned on the wall. Her power. There was also a shimmering wooden bar that ran the length of the mirror wall. She'd made a dance studio out of her room. He set her gently on the bed, his eyes taking in the details. Two old and used, tattered ballet slippers, more gray than pink were along the wall as were leather tap shoes, jazz shoes, costume dance shoes. The walls were covered in famous dancers and dance recital programs. The stereo system had one of the headphones with the microphones attached.  
  
The little angel's room. He thought as he left, still contemplating. He'd love to see her dance. He'd just sort of hang around and hope to see it.  
  
Diane woke up in her bed, absently wondering how she'd gotten there , when she'd fallen on the stairs. She seemed to vaguely remember Alex being there. He must have brought her. She sat up and immediately flopped back, her head spinning, every muscle in her body screaming.  
  
"Not well, Di?" Bruce asked, appearing out of nowhere, his eyes flickering over her dance studio, then resting worriedly on her.  
  
"Fine, just a little dizzy." She attempted to sit up, but Bruce pushed her back down gently.  
  
"Don't even try it until you feel better." He pushed a couple of loose hairs out of her face. "You did wonderful back there, Di."  
  
"They woulda got me." She said, wondering if her voice really sounded that slurred.  
  
"Yes, well you did good holding them off."  
  
"Thanks, luvvy." She said, closing her eyes. She was asleep in a few seconds, but Bruce didn't go anywhere, contemplating her words. Thanks, luvvy.  
  
Alex watched from across the hall, looking grumpy. Diane swung back and forth. She was sometimes really touchy about the tie between them, sometimes she'd be accepting, like the night on the bikes. She'd been flirting. But never anything in between. And sometimes she'd act really attached to Bruce, and sometimes she'd ignore his obvious infatuation with her.  
  
Diane was fine the next day, once her power had a chance to regenerate itself. She went to classes, but she was asleep the whole time, and by the end of power class the end of her braid was singed and there was a burn on her arm from being paired with Johnny.  
  
"Marie." She said wearily. "Will you tell Logan that I can't come today?" Her friend, who didn't know what had happened and was worried about her, nodded, glad to have something to do to help.  
  
Diane collapsed on her bed with a sigh. Suddenly she sat up. I haven't danced in a while. I'll get out of practice. She walked over to her stereo and shuffled through her CD's, settling on a black one.  
  
Alex was walking back down the hall when he heard the music. Diane. He crept silently down the hall. The song had a hard, steady beat, but the beginning was two girls talking on the phone. Closer to her room he heard three hard orchestra hits..  
  
o/~ You told me that you would always be everything that I need. o/~ Three more hits. o/~ Told my friends that I .would never get enough, of your love. o/~ Three more hits, he crept up to her room, and promptly stumbled back in surprise.  
  
o/~ You want me to stay at home, and like a fool I did for you, now I see the game that you're playing on me.o/~  
  
She was dancing, She had no shoes on, her hair was down, and her eyes were closed. She could -move-. She was using the many orchestra hits and the strong beat to her advantage, slamming her feet or arms and snapping her head and hips.  
  
o/~ You go out with your friends at night, like it's alright, cause you're hot like fire.o/~  
  
He blinked. She was flexible. She'd just flipped on an orchestra hit.  
  
o/~ Other girls call your cellphone boy you can't help yourself, cause you're hot like fire.o/~  
  
With a jolt he realized that she knew he was there. How, he didn't know, she hadn't opened her eyes once. She did now, though, winked at him, and spun, her gold hair fanning around her.  
  
o/~ You didn't know she was my best friend baby you're just playing yourself cause you're hot like fire. o/~  
  
Alex watched her dance, mesmerized. She ended it with a complicated jump, and landed perfectly.in the splits. He winced. She got up, pressed a couple buttons, and changed CDs. She sang this time, only a couple lines, but still ignoring him.  
  
"Its amazing, what a boy can do, I cannot stop myself. Wish I didn't want you like I do, want you and no one else."  
  
She stopped singing, turned off her CD player, and stopped moving, her back to him.  
  
"You can come out now." She said, turning around and smirking at him. He came out from behind her door sheepishly. She didn't look mad though, in fact, she was half-smiling.  
  
"It's rude to eavesdrop." She said, sounding stern, or at least, trying to.  
  
"Sorry." He muttered.  
  
"Don't do it again." She sounded serious now. "You want to see me dance, ask." Alex was busy wondering why it suddenly felt like he was much younger than her..  
  
"Sorry." He muttered again.  
  
Diane smiled to herself. For once, she was in charge. She didn't mind him watching her, really. Bruce came sometimes, though he didn't know she knew. She just preferred to know that she had an audience, if only to give them a better show.  
  
By the time she came out of her reverie, he was gone.  
  
She wandered out into the hall singing, still wearing no shoes, her clear sweet voice turning heads wherever she went.  
  
"She's got you wrapped up in her satin and lace, tied around her little finger.got you feeling that you'll never escape, don't you know your hearts in danger, there's a devil in that angels face, if you could only see the love that you're wasting."  
  
She ran into the Alex again, sighing inwardly that she had to meet him wherever he went. He seemed to have forgotten all about eavesdropping on her. By that time she'd moved onto another song, still not deciding on a place to settle, and instead wandering aimlessly.  
  
"Who doesn't know, what I'm talking about, who's never left home, who's never struck out." Alex knew the song, he picked up the line, and before she knew what she was doing, her voice jumped up onto a harmony.  
  
"To find a life and dream of their own, a place in the clouds, a foundation of stone." She had no idea, really, of what a strange scene they made to anyone else. They were both standing in the hall leading off to the dormitories, not even looking at each other, singing in perfect harmony.  
  
"Many precede and many will follow, a young girl's dreams no longer hollow, it takes the shape of a place out west, but what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed." She also hadn't noticed that they'd gathered a small audience, consisting mostly of students, though she knew Logan was there, and was pretty sure that the professor was there in a sense. But for some reason, though she wanted to with everything in her, she couldn't stop singing.  
  
"She needs, wide open spaces.room to make her big mistakes, she needs, new faces, she knows the high stakes." Marie, who normally would have been to shy, could tell her friend was dying, and joined them in a low alto voice. Three part harmony. Bruce. Where's Bruce. Diane thought, thinking his singing voice would fit in nicely. Alex was a low baritone. She needed a tenor. For some reason, she felt like the leader.  
  
"She traveled this road as a child, wide eyed and grinning she never tired, but now she won't be coming back with the rest, if these are life's lessons she'll take this test. " She spotted Jean, and tilted her head to one side. Suddenly the telepath was in her mind.  
  
1 What?  
  
Where's Bruce?  
  
Right there, why?  
  
Can you give him the lyrics? I need a tenor.  
  
Diane felt a burst of amusement from the telepath. She saw Bruce looked very confused, then his voice joined them. She was right. He was tenor.  
  
"She needs, wide open spaces.room to make her big mistakes, she needs, new faces, she knows the high stakes." Suddenly everyone but her stopped singing. She was confused for a second, then recalled the song. She lowered her voice to the normal line for the song.  
  
"As her folks drive away, her dad yells check the oil, mom stares out the window and say I'm leaving my girl, she said it didn't seem like that long ago that she stood there and let her own folks know..." The rest of them started singing again, all hitting the right notes somehow, as though they practiced all the time, or someone was directing them, though Diane, who had started it, was only singing with the rest of them.  
  
"She needed, wide open spaces.room to make her big mistakes, she needs, new faces, she knows the high stakes."  
  
The finished. People didn't clap. They were awed. As far as they were concerned, the four of them had just started singing from nowhere in particular, all over the room, perfectly. It was, in fact, kind of creepy. Perhaps this was why they filtered away so quickly, leaving the singers and Jean.  
  
"That was wonderful, Diane." She said softly.  
  
"It wasn't me, Jean." She replied. She didn't really notice when the professor came up behind them.  
  
"Diane." He said softly. His blue eyes were kind. "We haven't had a music teacher since Lorna left." He glanced at Alex, making her wonder. "And we need another. Are you as good with other instruments as you are with your voice?"  
  
"Just piano."  
  
"Perfect. Would like to lead a choir?"  
  
"I would.but I don't think I have the time, with your class and Logan's."  
  
"I have a feeling, Diane, that Logan can always switch his lessons to the weekend." She nodded, her heart jumping again. If only she could find someone to teach dancing, everything would be just as she'd imagined. She could work with her power, her bike, her voice, and herself. It was all she'd ever wanted since she'd found out she was mutant, and now, all of a sudden, it had happened.  
  
Alex had the strong impression the reason she looked at her shoes so quickly was so people wouldn't see her eyes mist over, Jean knew it, and Bruce just looked confused. This also probably was the reason she disappeared so fast. 


	6. Mini-Mutants

Diane was extremely bouncy during classes the next day. She was really hyped, and worried that no one would want to be in a class with a teacher hardly older than them. Marie personally thought she had no reason to fret over it, she knew at least, that all her friends were coming.  
  
Unfortunately the whole thing was called off.  
  
The X-men got a huge distress call from a mutant girl. She was only 9, but for some reason, her power had gone off way before most others did. The professor usually sent one the qualified X-men, but he said Bruce and Diane happened to be nearby, though they were just as near as anyone else in the mansion. And Diane had the sneaking suspicion that he had called them on purpose. He was making them the people under Alex in the role of command in the team.  
  
They ran, Diane sliding on her power which was slick with rain, down the two blocks to where the girl was.  
  
Down the lane and into Westchester. Mostly high-class houses.  
  
The girl was running down the street, tears streaming down her cheeks, mingling with the rain. She was tiny, she was covered in mud, and there were tiny wings sprouting out of her back. She had a mop of curly red, wine colored curls, untidy on her head, sopping wet and an almost rust color from the rain. Her eyes were bright purple, swimming with tears and rain, smooth cheeks streaked with salt and fresh water. There was a dog, a cat, and a gliding robin following her. She seemed to be trying to get away from the animals. She ran and hid, shivering, behind Diane's legs. Diane picked up the dripping cat, wondering what on earth could back the tiny black fuzztail act so unlike it's usual cat-self. Cats -hated- water. She got a good look at the thing's eyes. They were clouded, like Storm's eyes went when she called up a storm. So was the dog's. Bruce had the robin in his fist. That was the other thing. These animals should have run when they saw her and Bruce. But they didn't.  
  
Diane stared at the girl. Her wings were growing slowly. They were now almost as big as bird's wings, where they'd been much smaller when the girl had run into them. She toppled over, her wings sprawled in the mud, still growing. The cat yowled, as though suddenly realizing it was wet. Diane held onto it though. The dog ran and Bruce let go of the bird. Diane handed the kitten, who had stopped fighting, and was trying to stay warm, to Bruce, and carefully kneeled near the little child. Her wings were now as big as a small falcon's, and the same banded color.  
  
Diane had never had a reason to act a mother, nor ever had one to be a role model, but suddenly a pang of something hit her stomach, and she'd instantly adopted the little girl. She picked her up, noting that she weighed absolutely nothing. Her wings, bigger still, flopped limply.  
  
Marie gasped when Diane came in from the rain, looking grim, a tiny girl in her arms. She was dripping with mud and rain, and Bruce came after her, looking equally wet, as though they had just gone swimming. He carried an unhappy looking cat that looked like a drowned rat.  
  
The whole power class had been waiting for them. Alex was blinking at Diane with a strange look on his face. She was cradling the little girl as if she was her daughter, and she looked truly distressed, something he'd never seen Diane look like.  
  
Diane gently shifted her girl to accommodate her growing wings, which, in relation to the girl's body, were about as big as a swan's, growing up past her ears, and the long feathers at the bottom touching her waist. One of them flopped over Diane's arm, and the other was folded tightly under the little girl's small body.  
  
They were beautiful wings. They were a light tan color, banded with dark stripes, like a falcon's, and there were speckles on the one's nearest to her body.  
  
"Somebody." Diane gasped. She'd run, literally leaving Bruce for lost in the rain, back to the mansion, and literally had no breath left to talk. "Get.help." Rogue gently pried the little dripping girl away from Diane, exclaiming over how little she weighed. Diane drooped with relief. Bruce handed her the little black kitten wrapped in a towel, who was purring contentedly now that she was warm. She knew a sucker when she saw one. Her eyes were a honey gold, and they were turned up at Diane with complete trust. She'd adopted more than one charge that day, it seemed. She sighed, having gotten most of her breath back.  
  
"What am I going to name you? Tell me that, huh?" She asked the purring bundle, who simply rumbled louder at the question.  
  
"Name her Bottlebrush." Alex said softly. She hadn't noticed him come up behind her. She smiled.  
  
"Good name, Alex." She said, tapping the cat on both shoulders and on the top of her head. "I dub you Bottlebrush." The kitten let out a little mew of happiness, and transferred her attention to Alex in a little leap and couple loud yelps from Alex as she clung with her claws.  
  
"You little monster." He said, imitating anger as he gently unhooked her from his shirt. "Awwwww." She butted her head on his chin. Diane suddenly realized that everyone else, including Bruce had gone off with the girl. She looked around, then sped off to the medlab, Alex moving behind her as fast as he could with the little bundle of fur.  
  
In the medlab the girl was laid out on one of the beds. Rogue had carefully washed the girl. Her hair was still wet and her feathers stuck together, but she was clean. Her wings had stopped glowing at about the relative size of an eagles wings, in relation to her tiny body.  
  
The professor had come downstairs. He was carefully spreading one of her wings so he could look at the frame.  
  
"I think," He said, to Cyclops and Jean, who were in the lab, "That she had a bone structure like Warren's, which is why she doesn't weigh much. But she has another power as well as her wings. She can control animals." That would explain the cat, dog, and bird.  
  
Diane shoved her way over to the bed as the girl stirred. Her eyes met the violet one's of the little girl. Like the kitten's eyes, there was complete trust in her gaze. "What's your name?" She asked gently, not noticing, that again, everyone had left, except Bruce.  
  
The girl stared at her for another moment with her bright purple eyes. "Corinna." She said finally in a tiny voice.  
  
"My name is Diane. This is Bruce."  
  
"You saved me." The girl said, nodding slightly, and sitting up with no apparent trouble.  
  
"The animals wouldn't have hurt you, you know." She held up the kitten that had been curled in her arms. "This is Bottlebrush. She's quite harmless." Diane didn't quite know how to explain to the little girl that she would soon be hated everywhere, for no apparent reason. The girl giggled, and Diane set the kitten on the bed. Bottlebrush curled up in Corinna's lap.  
  
"I'll call her BB." Corinna declared in her piping voice. She stood up, staggered backwards, then caught a glimpse of her wings. Her innocent little purple eyes went wide with surprise. "What happened?" She wailed.  
  
"You're." Bruce was finally talking. He was just a gentle with the little girl as Diane was. "You're a little different from a lot of people now, girlie. You have a special power, to speak to animals, and someday, when your wings are big enough, you'll be able to fly."  
  
The girls lip trembled slightly. Bruce had meant the information on her power to be comforting, but it was anything but it.  
  
"You mean I'm a -mutant-?" She asked, anguished. Diane blinked, then remembered that the girl was nine years old. Her high-pitched voice, and babyish ways made her seem years younger. Of course she would know about mutants. It was a worldwide 'problem'.  
  
"Look hun," Diane said, taking over. "We're all mutants here. We'll take care of you, teach you how to use your power to help people." The little girl's mood changed quickly.  
  
"Like a superhero? Wow!" She skipped across the room, and then, much to Diane's surprise, hugged her around the waist. Her heart melted like butter in the sun. "I used to play with the boys when they played super- heroes. The girls always made fun of me, but they wouldn't now! Wow! Are -you- guys superheroes?" Diane and Bruce glanced at each other and smiled.  
  
"Not quite." They said at the same time. "But," Diane continued, "The lady with the red hair and the man with the sun glasses are."  
  
"Wow!"  
  
"In fact, since I'm just about to faint, Bruce can go take you to meet them and the other members of the team." Diane scooped the kitten off Corinna, and walked carefully back to her room, collapsing onto her bed without taking her clothes off, or even pulling the covers back. BB settled on her stomach, curled up, and fell asleep as well. 


	7. A Dream

Magneto sat in the cage. The plastic cage. For the millionth time he wished that he had thought more about the other people in the mansion and not just of the professor, as if he was the only danger. And for the millionth time, he wished he could find a way out of his plastic prison. His long two years had hatched him another plan to take over the government. Turning the world's powers into mutants hadn't worked. Now he'd have to take a more drastic action.  
  
That could be arranged. Said a voice in his head. It was much stronger then Charles' had ever been. He looked through the plastic wall of his cage. Across the blackness around his cell, Magneto could see nothing. Knowing the strong telepath could hear him, he said,  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
You may simply call me Enigma. I am here to help you.  
  
"Why?"  
  
1 You are the person who tried to turn the government into mutants?  
  
The memory was painful, but only because of his underestimating Wolverine and the little girl, Rogue. "Yes."  
  
I, too, believe that there is a war coming. I have my own plan to stop it. But I need your power to help. And your mind. I need the X-men out of the way.  
  
"Who -are- you? How do you know about me?" The government had kept the whole secret bottled up.  
  
I was one of the police that you almost shot the night when you took the girl from the train station. It was then that I realized you were the perfect person to help me. And I stepped back and let you try your plan. However, it went horribly wrong, and they took you somewhere where I couldn't find you. But here you are.  
  
Eric Lensherr stood up. "Then let me out, and I will help you." The door opened slowly.  
  
Diane woke up with a start. What.she'd been having the strangest dream.a person she knew.and a person she didn't.talking.she couldn't remember. Ach. She thought grumpily. I hate dreams like that. Dream.or was it a dream? The voice of the one she knew haunted her. But she shook it off and got up, picking up Bottlebrush who was twining around her legs. "You're a baby, BB, but I gotta leave you here. Can't have you wandering all around the mansion." But the kitten dug her claws into Diane's shoulder and hung on. Finally the mutant sighed and gave up, letting the cat drape herself around her shoulders like a scarf. "You'd better hope none of the teachers have an objection to you." She told her little hanger-on.  
  
She wandered out of her room to find the mansion in a state of panic. Diane stopped everyone she knew, but no one would tell her what was wrong. She finally tackled Alex as he ran full speed down the hall, slamming into his stomach and knocking him over. She fought, clenching her teeth, her body's response to being on top of him.  
  
He, of course, wasn't ready for it, and his eyes slid out of focus from the smash of feeling. The dreamy look on his face made her shudder, and his skin against hers made her feel like her whole body had caught fire. She struggled against the effect, pulling on the sense of urgency, though she could hardly remember why she'd been worried. NO! Her mind screamed. There's something wrong! My friends will be hurt! This gave her the strength to fight the invisible tug to Alex. She slapped him. He blinked, and she rolled off him.  
  
"Now." She growled, wishing that her voice wasn't so damn husky. "Tell me what the hell happened."  
  
"Ouch.did you have to be so damn rough?" She wanted to slash his face with her nails. He was still out of focus, and was staring at her fixedly. As if she were a telepath, she could tell what he was thinking. Her cheeks went faintly red at the idea, and she slapped him again.  
  
"Yes." She snarled. "Tell me."  
  
"Magneto escaped."  
  
"Who's -" She started, but he cut her off.  
  
"The evil mutant who tried to make everyone at the UN summit." She nodded heard about that. She had an eerie flash from her dream.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Some telepath." She stared at him with wide eyes, another strange flash crossed her mind.  
  
"Diane? You know something, don't you?" She shook her head. She wouldn't give them information from her dream. It probably wasn't even real. It was just her imagination.  
  
He watched her with concern now. "Diane?" He said softly, putting an arm around her, which didn't help, as her head suddenly spun from the contact. He seemed to realize that at the same moment she did, and removed his arm, though he kept eyeing her with suspicion.  
  
"You can go back to what you were doing." She said in whisper. He nodded, but grabbed her hand and made her run with him.  
  
"Professor?" Alex gasped. "Diane." He stopped, and couldn't finish. He had no air left. Diane noticed that the rest of the official X-men were there.  
  
"What?" Asked Scott sharply. He seemed to be in charge. He did not look particularly pleased to see his brother or her.  
  
"She knows something." The professor said instantly.  
  
"No I don't." Diane protested, getting some of her normal pluck back. "Alex just seemed to think."  
  
"You do." The professor. He glided smoothly over to her. "I want to check your memory. If you'll let me." His tone, however, told her that he'd better let him, or she'd really catch it. She happened to notice that she'd been carrying BB the whole time. She realized how stupid she must look, clinging to the cat like it was something that could help her. She suddenly didn't care what she looked like. She nodded slowly.  
  
The professor put his hands on either of side of her head. She could -feel- the memory surface, the strange voice that she somehow knew echoing oddly. Somehow, now that she could almost feel the recess memories, the voice, the calm voice, perfectly in control, was connecting to her age deep, farther back than she could remember hatred of telepaths.  
  
Suddenly she was back in the room with all the X-men, feeling very small. The professor nodded. "That told me what we already know." But he was watching her oddly. "It is a very strong telepath that let him out. One that agrees with his theory of the war. The information about being a cop." He stopped, then apologized. "Sorry. He was one of the police that Magneto had a gun trained on when he took Rogue. Probably was hoping to work on mutant oppression from the inside, with his mental power."  
  
Scott nodded. "I still don't see how that helps us find where they are now."  
  
"They are probably in Magneto's old base, but I do not know where it is. I have tried using Cerebro, but, as it never found Enigma before, it still does not trace him, and Magneto has added Jean, and every other telepath in this mansion to his chip. No one can detect him. He is getting better at it."  
  
Diane sighed, then muttered, "That's what comes of using your telepathic power too much." She heard Alex chuckle.  
  
"Diane." The professor turned to look at her. "I will ask you to tell the rest of the new mutants about the new mansion restriction that I am putting on everyone until I find out what Magneto wants. We didn't get the right person last time, and I don't want the mistake to happen again."  
  
Diane sighed, wondering why she always had to be the bearer of bad news. They wouldn't like being restricted. But she nodded. She left slowly, wishing there was something else she could do.  
  
She ran into Bruce in the hall. He seemed happily oblivious to anything going on. "Restriction." She said softly, touching his arm. "All of us are restricted to the mansion."  
  
"Why?" He asked, sounding anguished.  
  
"Magneto escaped." Bruce seemed to know about the super-mutant. He nodded, though he didn't look any happier at the news. "Tell everyone you meet, would you?"  
  
News spread like fire through the new mutants. None were happy. Some were scared. But most people were curious as to why the Professor seemed to think that the X-men were in danger. Diane was the only person that knew about her dream. 


	8. A Failed Mission

Life at the mansion was very touchy with the restrictions. No one disobeyed, for fear of Magneto. Nothing happened for a while, and no new dreams came to Diane. The professor finally decreed it safe for the X-men, the trained fighters, to leave the mansion. Diane thought this was a strange strategy, since, according to her dream, the evil mutants were after the X-men themselves.  
  
There were still no reports of any criminal behavior from either mutant. The professor was finally forced to lift the restrictions from the pressure of the students, who seemed to think that the threat had passed. Only Diane knew otherwise.  
  
Magneto sat at his old desk, contemplating his losses. He had lost Toad to that powerful black woman, and Sabretooth to Logan. Mystique, he couldn't use to help him, since she was still masquerading as Senator Kelly.  
  
His helper and releaser walked into the cave-like room from behind him. Enigma was dark in every way. He had dark hair, dark skin, dark eyes, and a dark, dark mind. He preferred to talk directly to Magneto's mind.  
  
I have followers. I have brought them in your time of need. Then we get the X-men. They are essential to my plan.  
  
Carefully, four women came up behind him. This is Firetamer. She controls heat. Firetamer was a beautiful woman with wild red hair and red-glowing eyes. Wave, who works with water. Wave was another gorgeous woman with glowing eyes, though hers were blue. Her skin seemed to shine with an inner light, almost bluish that was constantly shifting color and pattern, and her hair was a thick tangle of naturally blue strands. Iris, who makes portals. A third woman with straight blond hair and a well filled out figure. And Labyrinth, my own hand trained telepath. They will help you catch the X-men. Labyrinth was a short woman with bright purple eyes and thick black curls. She and Iris were the most normal of the four of them. Magneto nodded, his eye on his four new helpers. He couldn't help notice that Enigma had chosen all women. He sighed at the simple-mindedness of some people.  
  
Alex was mad. No one seemed to be doing anything to find Magneto or his new helper. He'd taken the privilege to leave the mansion, and run with it. He wandered the streets of New York, asking around for people who may have known something. Nothing was much help, but there seemed to be an agreement that two mutants that people knew and hated had disappeared. One of them had red hair, and one of them had blue hair. He'd pieced this much together, and had the suspicion that Magneto had offered them a safe place from the mutant torments, in change for their help with his plan.  
  
"But -what- is Magneto going to use them to do?" He asked out loud. A low, female voice answered him, like water moving over stones.  
  
"You're about to find out." He whirled around in time to see a flash of blue, before he blacked from a blow in the head.  
  
Diane was literally panicking when Alex never came back. She'd known he'd said he'd be back. She'd told him to be careful. But now it was too late. The X-men were going to go get him, and taking Professor X with them, to help with the powerful telepath. Alex had been blocked by a powerful mind block from the professor, which must have meant that they didn't want them to know where they were.  
  
She watched them go silently. Worry must have been plain on her face, because Bruce gently slipped his arm around her shoulders.  
  
Jean was keyed up. She had a nasty feeling about this mission. The professor said that there was an attempt to bock Alex from his mind. He had said it was very strong, and that he had nearly not been able to find him with Cerebro. There didn't seem to be anything else in the way to Alex. The professor had looked all around the city for other mutants with attempted mind blocks, and found none. The path to Scott's brother seemed clear. But Jean had the nasty feeling that there was more to it than that. She had the sneaking suspicion that there were other mutants guarding Alex, and despite what the professor said, they were going to have a hell of a time trying to get him out.  
  
They zoomed low over the water to where the faint, hardly discernable power signal from Alex was coming. They anchored near the island in a cloak of fog and telekinetic disguise, and slipped into the water. There was a tunnel under the island base. As they neared it, a huge wall of water rose up out of no where. A woman, wearing nothing but a tiny bikini walked out daintily on the surface of the water. Her skin was bluish, like light through water, it always shifted. Wet, dripping strands of blue hair slithered down her back. She threw a ball of water at Storm, who blew it away with a breath of wind. The woman hand sprung across the water into the middle of them, sweeps of her feet smashing Aurora and Scott. Jean held out a hand, freezing the water woman.  
  
A huge wave of water his her back, loosening the telekinetic's hold on the water caller, knocking Jean over, under the water. Scott shot a blast at the woman, who dodged by flipping.  
  
"Jean!" Yelled Aurora. "Can you get Scott and Logan out of the water?" Jean nodded, lifting the three of them out of the water, dripping. Storm's eyes went milky as she called on a storm. A huge white lightening bolt hit the water. White lightning flickered over the form of the waterperson, and she fell into the water and disappeared. They got into the tunnel all right.  
  
By now, they were expecting a wall of different mutants. They had made the Professor stay in the boat until they radioed ahead to say that they could go through. So it wasn't really that much of a surprise when they were met by a redhead with glowing red eyes. Fire danced around her hands and trickled gently out of the corners of her mouth. Aurora acted without thinking, water poured all over everything, the fire went out. Logan smashed her face with one of his 'iron' fists. She fell. Logan seemed to be of the opinion that they should kill her, because she'd be trouble later, but the rest of them wouldn't do it.  
  
Next they ran into a shapely woman with blond hair. She proved difficult, she kept dancing away from Wolverine and his claws, making little portals and jumping through them. Scott adjusted his glasses for stun and knocked her down.  
  
There was a girl with purple eyes and black curls at the end of the tunnel. Jean hoped to god that this was the last one. She froze them all with a calm smile when they got near her. She was another telekinetic, and one much stronger then Jean was. Jean reached for the Professor, and felt his presence join them. The power lifted under the joined influence of student and teacher, and Scott zapped her as well.  
  
They walked through, into the room. It was huge, metal, and round, sort of like the Cerebro room. They heard the Blackbird head for the cove wall so the Professor could join them. Once he'd come, they searched the room. Two doors. The weak power signal was from one of them. Wolverine, impatient, slashed it off its hinges.  
  
Alex was there, in a metal chair that obviously neutralized his power. He obviously couldn't talk either, probably from the mental block on him. His eyes widened when he saw them. Wolverine slashed his bonds and the professor freed him from the no-speak restriction on his mind. Wolverine's eye's darted around the room.  
  
"Big mistake, Cyke." He said. "Deja Vou. I can't move."  
  
"You idiots." Alex snapped. "You're-"  
  
His warning was almost too late, but not quite. He dived, his power spreading from his hands in a wave, melting metal and anything else in his way. The metal simply reformed, but he'd gone.  
  
"Damn." Wolverine growled. "I -knew- it."  
  
"Be optimistic. Alex got away. I can still protect him until he takes the blackbird back." The professor said. The solid metal of the wall split open.  
  
"Not -again-." Growled Wolverine. 


	9. Encounter

Diane knew it. They weren't coming back. Something had happened, and now all the official X-men were gone. They'd left the school (which was in vacation for now) in the hands of Gambit, one of the older people around at least. Bruce was with her the whole time. Despite how she'd acted at the beginning of school, she'd become fond of all the X-men.  
  
The roar of the blackbird interrupted her own melodramatic thoughts. She ran, bowling Bruce over despite her tiny size, weaving in and out of her friends, probably knocking over other people, but not stopping to apologize. The blackbird was glistening with water still, but there were no marks of battle on it.  
  
The door slid open, letting out a battered Alex. Her mouth was open, she knew, but she was instantly next to him. He was too tired and beaten up to notice who she was. She was too worried about him to care that everything in her body went crazy when she slid his arm over her shoulder and helped him back to the mansion.  
  
"They got the X-men." He managed, once she'd dropped him on her bed. She didn't have the key to his room, and he hadn't made any motion of giving her one. She'd needed to get him somewhere where he could lie down. He'd told her, when she asked whether he needed to go to the medlab, that there was nothing wrong with him, it was just that he was so tired. "And the professor. I got away, but just barely. They won't be happy. The professor was protecting me."  
  
She smiled at him lightly, though she didn't know why. He just sounded pathetic right now. This was the second time she'd seen him look hopeless. There was nothing he could do to help his friends, the X-men, and was beaten, and he knew it. "You did your best. We'll help them. There's nothing we can do now. Just rest. And we'll go get them tomorrow. They probably are expecting you to give up on them. They know that you left them once."  
  
Alex nodded, and closed his eyes. Diane hadn't noticed that he'd been hanging onto her hand the whole time. Instead of disturbing him further, she curled up on one side of her bed and fell asleep as well, tired out from worry and plagued by nightmares of the X-men dying.  
  
A note that in this chapter, ~* is Diane's mind voice, ** is Bruce's, (( is Cyrene's, || is Rogues, !! is Kitty's, = is Bobby's, ~~ is Alex's, // is Johnny's, -- Is Kurt's, and :: is Aubrey.  
  
Diane was up well before Alex was. She hadn't been beaten to death, after all. He'd gotten the rest of their elite group of 'New-Xies' as she called them, together. No one particularly objected to the name, but that might have been because they were too keyed and worried about the X-men to care. Since Alex knew where the place was, then they had to take him, though in his current condition, Diane would have preferred not to. And he was their leader.  
  
They skimmed the water as the Blackbird hung low over the water in the attempt to be discreet.  
  
"We have to go under!" Diane said suddenly. "There's.camera's out there.they'll see us."  
  
Alex, looking strained, nodded. There was the sound of the plane air- sealing itself, and they went under.  
  
Magneto carefully reached out with his power. There was the sleek form of the Blackbird under the water.how stupid they were. It's almost as though they'd forgotten about his power. "Firetamer, Wave, Labyrinth, go do 'diversion' tactics. Iris, you need to stay with me. I'll need you."  
  
The X-ies had to abandon their Blackbird and swim for it. They all had the little breather packs over their mouths and noses, and they were all in a costume of sorts, though some of them did have to wear the blue and gold new-mutants suit.  
  
They swam quickly for the large rock of the island. They began to notice that the water was slowly heating up around them about halfway there.  
  
For once, Aubrey seemed to be on the side of everyone else. He had set up a sort of a link so that they could all talk to each other under the water.  
  
~* Bobby? Can you do anything without freezing us all? ~*  
  
= I don't know. I've never honed my power to that close. =  
  
(( Well, we have to do something, this is going to hurt in a couple minutes.))  
  
= Yeah, let me try. =  
  
Bruce cut in, somehow making he think faster than usual. ** If he can't keep it from freezing over, then Aubrey and Kitty.no wait.Rogue, you take Kitty's power and Aubrey and Kitty and you and Diane take someone out of the water.**  
  
~~ Good thinking. ~~  
  
Diane frowned under the water. Alex even -sounded- weak, even his mind did, but he wouldn't let her make him stay in the 'Bird. She felt the water start to get cold. There was a battle here, the person who was heating it didn't like the fact someone could contradict his or her power. The water around Bobby was absolutely freezing, Diane shot up towards the surface of the water, dragging Alex with her. He was heavy, she could tell he was barely hanging on to consciousness. She shot out of the water, felt Kitty run up with Kurt, Aubrey lifting Johnny and Cyrene. Rogue swam up, Diane saw her head surface. She slapped a hand to Kitty's, Kitty's eyes widened, and Rogue disappeared, then came running up with Bruce.  
  
Not two seconds too late, the water froze over with a crackle, and Bobby, broke his way up, his skin frozen over. They all took out the Oxygen tubes at about the same time. "They figured the best way to get rid of us was the let us freeze ourselves in." Bobby said.  
  
"Kitty, Cyrene, you stay here." Diane snapped suddenly. "Alex isn't going to make it." She was staggering slightly under his weight.  
  
But Aubrey's eyes flashed. "Who made you the leader, bitch?" He snarled, glaring at her. He had never really liked her, since she always snubbed his power.  
  
Alex's head snapped up. "YOU LISTEN TO HER!" He roared at Aubrey, who flinched. "But, Diane, I'm not staying behind."  
  
"Oh, yes you are. I'm not getting you killed."  
  
"You'll short the team leaving them behind to watch me."  
  
"I'M NOT GETTING YOU KILLED!" She screamed, losing control, her already raw nerves snapping. "YOU ARE STAYING HERE IF I HAVE TO LOCK YOU INTO THE BLACKBIRD! I ALREADY LET YOU COME ON THIS INSANE LITTLE EXCURSION, AND I SEE THAT WAS A MISTAKE!"  
  
She tapped a couple buttons on her watch, glaring at Alex, as if daring him to object. "Bruce, take his control watch." Bruce was staring at her as though she'd just grown horns, but he didn't do it. He glanced at Alex, who glared at him. "Do it, or I will, and I'll have to knock him out to do it." She snarled, the air around her blinking white light on and off. "This is taking time that it shouldn't. They're watching us already, they know we're here. So wasting time only gives them the advantage: Preparation. So, as I said, do it or I will."  
  
The Blackbird surfaced with a gurgling pop, as though to emphasize her words. Bruce sighed, phasing the watch with a thought. "That won't be working any time soon, sorry Alex." He added to the end of that, when the blond haired leader glared even more fiercely.  
  
"Now get in the 'Bird or I'll put you out and drag you in there. Kitty, you stay with him, and phase him if he tries to override my command. Cyrene, you can come with us."  
  
She half dragged, half-carried Alex into the plane, Kitty following her, eyes wide, surprised.  
  
When she came back out, she beckoned sharply to Aubrey. "I know you don't like me. I don't really like you, but we have to work together. Let's just get through this fight and save the X-men, and then we can go back to hating each other in peace. I need your help. I need a link to Alex so he can give us directions, since he knows where they are."  
  
Aubrey, who was surprised at Diane's sudden show of command, as well as Alex's order to obey her, nodded. He touched her forehead, which glowed briefly silver. Diane staggered sideways, surprised. Her ears went faintly red, and she snapped, "Alex, quit it. Or make a wall or something." Then with a few more taps on her watch, she sealed the Blackbird.  
  
"Lets go swimming again." She said finally. "And no more talking."  
  
They all but the breathers back into their mouths and dove back under the water. They soon came to the tunnel that the X-men had previously found. There was no one there, and they quickly found the several signs of struggle, and moved through the tunnel quickly.  
  
"Watch out!" Johnny shouted suddenly, twisting his hand. A ball of flame went off course. A girl, or, rather, a woman, with red hair and eyes was standing behind them. In front of them, a woman with blue skin and hair left a trail of water on the floor. She created a wave out of no where, but Bobby froze it, blocking her from the fight with the red head, for the moment. Every attempt to create fire was quashed, so the girl soon resorted to dancing around and trying to hit people, which really didn't work, since everyone else could use their power. Cyrene made quick work of her with a clawed cuff to the head. Johnny melted the wall, but the water girl didn't have any more luck than the fire tamer did. Anything she threw, Bobby froze, and she too was soon cut down by Bruce, who tripped her by phasing the ground under and them, hitting the side of her head.  
  
Diane didn't like leaving the two of them behind her, but she made ropes and they tied them up. They went up the stairs at the end of the tunnel.  
  
~* Alex? *~  
  
~~ Go left. ~~ His voice was dreadfully weak. She had been right to leave him behind. ~~ You were not. But I'll let it pass, if only because I can't waste the energy arguing, if that was only because I'm trying too hard to keep a wall up so I don't distract you. ~~ She almost jumped, feeling the blood rush into her face. Bruce was eyeing her funny. "Left, he said left." She said quickly. She heard Bruce mutter, "Yeah, right, I'm sure that's why your face just went that interesting shade of red."  
  
Following Alex's directions they made it to a door, guarded by a short woman with black hair and purplish eyes. She smiled charmingly at them. Diane fell to her knees, a heavy weight was settling on her mind, she wanted nothing more than to just lie down and go to sleep.  
  
She could feel everyone else falling into the heavy pressure of the telepath's mind, she struggled, struggled, fought.but. 


	10. Pain

She was roughly awaken by a startling slap on her consciousness. ~~ DIANE! ~~ She jerked awake, but, almost luckily, the still heavy pressure from the telepath kept her from moving. She could feel Aubrey shielding her from the purple eyed telepath. Aubrey was awake, though he couldn't move, he was making sure the other mutant couldn't detect her talking to Alex.  
  
~~ What happened? ~~ His voice was faintly panicky.  
  
~* There's a telepath, put us all to sleep. Aubrey's protecting me, so she can't pick up me talking to you. I can't move or she'll know that I'm awake. *~  
  
~~ Damn. ~~  
  
:: Diane? ::  
  
~* Jas, Alex, you can commence cussing this guy out, I need to talk to Aubrey. *~  
  
~~ Wait a second, I resent that- ~~  
  
~* Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate. *~  
  
:: I can wake them, up, but we can't move. ::  
  
((((( I believe I can take care of that problem for you. ))))) Said a strange voice, strong, more powerful than any Diane had ever heard in her life.except for once.the voice was hauntingly familiar. The rest of the team were freed, though not completely, they still couldn't move. The door that purple-eyed girl had been guarding swished open, and two men and a tall woman with blond hair walked into the hallway. One of the men was tall, had a lined face with great wisdom and sorrow behind it. He wore all black armor, with a helmet to match. The other was a short man, black in every way, eyes, hair.his skin was deathly pale, but there was something about him, a blackness, darkness, an evil aura that hung about him like a cloak.  
  
"YOU?!?" Diane shrieked, her eyes wide. Everyone looked at her sharply. Even the man in the helmet, who she assumed was Magneto looked surprised.  
  
((((( If it isn't the little blond brat. I thought I killed you. )))))  
  
"That was my SISTER!" Diane snarled, forgetting that she was tiny, short and not all that strong. She forgot her power, forgot his, she wanted to throw herself at him, wanted to -kill- him, wanted to tear him limb.from.limb.with.her.bare.hands.  
  
((((( I don't think you'll be doing that any time soon, little blond brat. )))))  
  
"Yeah, I'll do something EVEN WORSE!"  
  
He ignored her, his eyes sweeping over the assorted frozen mutants. ((((( I'd like to thank you all for joining us.))))) His eyes stopped on Cyrene, who's green eyes were glaring fierce defiance, then on Bruce, who's mouth was slightly open, staring at first Enigma, then at Diane, who was standing in front of the team, trembling slightly, glowing though she couldn't move. He could practically see the glaring red of her anger, hatred.  
  
Finally the telepath's eyes rested on Johnny, the last in the line. ((((( Where are Kitty and Alexander? ))))) He asked suddenly sharp. ((((( The ditzy phaser I can do without, but WHERE IS HAVOK? Tell me you.))))) Diane felt an instant of the great mind on hers, and then he snorted faintly with amusement. ((((( How touching. Really. I'm sobbing. Little blond brat and Alex. ))))) He jerked his hand at her, she felt a fist close over her mind. ((((( I think this link will come in more useful than you ever will to your friends. Call Alexander. NOW. )))))  
  
She wanted to do it. She wanted to reach out and tell him to come.why hadn't she thought of it before? He could help them.  
  
But.no he couldn't, he was hurt, couldn't fight, the telepath wanted him here, so Alex couldn't.anything that Enigma wanted couldn't happen.  
  
But.she needed Alex's help, couldn't do this by herself.  
  
"NO! I. WILL. NOT!"  
  
((((( You won't? )))))  
  
The pain hit her, like every muscle, every nerve, every inch of her skin was on fire. She almost screamed, but she wouldn't, no, she wouldn't give him the pleasure of hearing her in agony. Everything intensified, something clamped over her lungs, like ice, like fire, she couldn't breathe. And it sopped just as suddenly.  
  
((((( I can do that to you for as long as it takes. Tell Alex to come or it'll never stop. ))))) She shook her head, gasping for air. It took her again, the pain that was so intense that it blotted out thought, feeling of any kind, even her surroundings. She fell to her knees, still keeping herself from screaming somehow. Now it felt as though, moving from her legs up, he was making her bones come apart into splinters of white hot metal. Her nose exploded red, now it felt as though she'd just been dumped into a pot full of boiling lead, then thrown into ice water. Finally the pressure of the mind on hers, the pain, everything made her scream with her mind, so loud she felt Enigma flinch and Aubrey and the purple-eyed telepath scream.  
  
~*~*~*~*~* ALEX! HELP ME! HE'S KILLING ME! ~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The pain stopped, Diane toppled over, as the red in front of her eyes fought for dominance with the gray dots, she felt a flash of blind panic from Alex, then the gray won, and she blacked out. 


	11. Fin

When she woke up, she was still on the floor. Her nose had stopped bleeding, and she was sore all over. There was a crackling portal in the middle of the hall, glittering faintly silver. The girl with blond hair that had accompanied the two evil mutants was there, pouring what seemed to be silver energy into the glowing circle. It was growing slowly, but by the way the girl was breathing fast, she wasn't going to be able to make it very big.  
  
Enigma had disappeared, but Magneto was there, watching all the X- ies, who were freed, but they really had no place to go, there were mutants all around them with various powers, though most of them were telepaths strong enough to keep them from going anywhere.  
  
Diane struggled back onto her knees from the floor. Bruce was over next to her in a flash. "What happened?" He asked, worriedly. Diane suddenly realized that they all had not heard the telepath talking to her. She could almost see it. She was yelling at the telepath, obviously about something he said. Then she refused him something, then toppled over, almost screaming.  
  
"He killed my sister." She said finally, her voice shaking, though whether from sadness or anger, she couldn't tell. "Trying to get me. He was on the mutant SWAT that was always chasing me. Found my sister, killed her, trying to find me. Maybe he even thought it was me. I don't know. Right now, he.he needs Alex for something, when he didn't come with us, he used me, my link, tried to force me to call him. I wouldn't, so he tortured me.played around with my brain so that all my nerves went crazy.I did it, I screamed.I called Alex and now he's going to come.and if he does, we've lost.this guys got it too welled planned out.and it's all my fault." She was shaking now, not just her voice, and for the first time in forever, she let herself cry.  
  
About an hour later, Enigma came stomping back. ((((( Brat! ))))) He snapped at her, his eyes glowing faintly. ((((( Is your boyfriend always this slow? ))))) She hadn't really thought about it, but suddenly she smiled, remembering her instructions to Kitty. Also lucky for her, he was too busy being grumpy to pick up the thought. Alex was safe.  
  
((((( No matter. One of you will do just as well, though I may have to adapt. Actually, I think I will use the blond brat, if only because she defied me. No one defies me. Iris, are you done? ))))) The blond mutant nodded, wiping the sweat off her face. " I can't make it any bigger. They haven't noticed it yet."  
  
((((( Good. Get the X-men. ))))) The blonde hopped through one of her portals and disappeared.  
  
Diane somehow managed to get to her feet, leaning on Bruce. ((((( Funny, I wouldn't have thought it of you, little blond brat, playing with the two of them. I can't reach Alex, as Xavier is still protecting him, but he- ))))) The telepath jerked a finger at Bruce, ((((( Is quite easy to read. )))))  
  
Diane didn't even have to step forward, Enigma was already so close to taunt her, she slapped him. It wasn't very hard, she didn't have the strength to hurt him much. But he stepped back, his eyes on her. ((((( I do hope Iris hurries up. I will take great pleasure in killing you, girl. No one has dared go that far with me in years. )))))  
  
Diane felt Bruce gasp, it registered that everyone could hear him, but for some reason she really wasn't afraid of the telepath. "Do your worst." She snapped. "It can't really be any worse than what you've already done."  
  
((((( I was under the impression that getting your life sucked away hurts more than any torture I could come up with. )))))  
  
"I was talking about my sister." She snapped. She was about to say more, but the rest of the X-men were dragged in. They all looked surprised to see her and the X-ies.  
  
((((( Oh, good, Rogue, come here. ))))) He made a gesture at her, and she walked forward, though Diane could tell she was fighting. ((((( Iris, Brat. ))))) Diane didn't have the strength to fight him any more, she walked forward. Iris touched her portal. With a jerk of Enigma's hand, Marie touched Diane's arm. Her other hand touched Iris's, and her eyes widened.  
  
Enigma had been right, this was worse, much worse than his torture. The pain was more intense than anything he had done to her, and she could -feel- her life slipping out of her body, into the Marie's, and then into Iris, who poured it into her portal, which was growing quickly. Diane could just barely make out several men in suits through her clouded vision. This was the end, but she still wasn't scared.  
  
She heard a scream, then two more, the door blasted off it's hinges, and her arm slid out of Marie's grasp, she fell, she saw two people run straight through Marie. She fell to the floor, and though she wished she could to stop the pain, she didn't black. She realized with a vague sort of interest that it was Havok and Kitty that had just blasted the door down, then the Professor was freeing the X-men.  
  
But she couldn't black out. She had to get Enigma for what he had done to her sister. She had to kill him, see him die.  
  
She some how managed to stand up, she staggered forward towards the mutant telepath, who was trying to fend off the mental assault of the Professor.  
  
She threw herself at him, saw him look surprised. But the blackness took her mind before she could hurt him. She felt the faint sensation of being picked up by someone big, desperately hoped it was someone friendly, and then lost all ability to think.  
  
It wasn't really much a fight. The Professor had been working on freeing himself from Enigma ever since capture, and the students and the X- men vastly outnumbered the mutants Magneto had managed to collect.  
  
Alex had heard Diane's scream, and it had taken him about thirty minutes to persuade Kitty that he wasn't kidding, then thirty minutes to persuade the computer.  
  
Everything coordinated at the same time, and they got both the super- mutants back into jail with a little telepathic neutralizer on Enigma.  
  
Enigma had been planning to make a portal directly into an important meeting of the UN, and control the X-men, forcing them to take over the government. Then he and Magneto were to take control and force the mutant cause.  
  
They flew the plane back, fighting time, as Diane was getting worse and worse until she was hardly breathing. Rogue had taken too much of her life to keep her going for very much longer.  
  
They managed to get her to a life support, but her life was hanging in the balance. Bruce, Alex, and Rogue never left the medlab. Rogue finally broke down and sobbed.  
  
"It's all mah fault. If Ah would have fought him any."  
  
"You couldn't, Marie, it's not your fault." Bruce said, gently, taking his eyes off Diane's limp form for once.  
  
"Diane did. She fought him, refused to call Alex."  
  
"He would have gotten what he wanted in the end. He did get her to call me." Alex broke off, an odd look on his face.  
  
~* Tell her to stop. I'm hurt, not dead. *~  
  
~~ Diane don't, you'll wear yourself out- ~~  
  
~* Alex, shut up, and tell Marie I'll be fine. *~  
  
"Marie, she says.she says she's fine. Or she will be."  
  
"Oh, and how is that?" Rogue snapped, glaring at him. "Don't you try that, Alexander Summers, I know she's unconscious and you aren't really talking to her."  
  
"She is. Her mind is awake, I guess, she's just."  
  
"Can't you stop causing problems for people just once?" Bruce snapped suddenly. "I don't believe you either. You already play around with how Diane feels about you, do you have to mess with me and Marie as well?"  
  
"I was -not- messing with Di-"  
  
"I'd believe Alex if I were you, Bruce." The calm voice of the professor said. "Or if not him, believe me. She is -so- loud when she talks telepathically, almost blasted me."  
  
Bruce glanced at Diane, alarmed, as though wondering whether she'd jump up and yell at him. Then he looked at his feet and muttered "Sorry." Marie went faintly red, said,  
  
"I'm sorry, Alex."  
  
"Then I do believe that you two should go to bed. It's late. Diane won't die as soon as you're gone."  
  
The first thing Diane saw when she opened her eyes was the deep blue of Alex's eyes. As always, she fell through them, for the first time she reveled in it, though, didn't fight it. He was the one who broke eye contact. Then her eyes met Bruce's brown ones. She smiled, summoned the strength to raise her hand, touch his face gently, as though making sure this wasn't a dream. She wasn't dead, or hallucinating.  
  
She sat up slowly, carefully, batting away the people who tried to help her. "Would you quit it?" She asked in a raspy voice that she hardly recognized as her own. "I'm -fine-."  
  
Her eyes slowly went around the white room, a faint smile on her face. They had all come to visit her.  
  
"Why'd you all come?" She asked finally.  
  
"Because we love you, Diane." Alex said softly, a faint trace of his old grin on his face. "We want to see you alive. After all, you saved us all."  
  
Diane was quite literally pampered over the next few days. She finally managed to get on her feet, and after that, her recovery was fast. She was always with someone, if not Alex, then Bruce, Kitty, or Marie.  
  
Finally she climbed out of her bed, stretched, and ran down the hall, reveling in the fact that she was alive. She ran into Alex, bounced off him practically, and grinned at him. She tilted her head to one side, pouted, then smiled again. "Oops."  
  
"That was entirely on purpose and you know it." He said with a grin. She grinned back. The link that Aubrey had made between them had not been removed, so she could feel the flash of his amusement.  
  
"How did you get Kitty to believe you."  
  
"Well, first I fainted. You were -really- loud."  
  
"Oops." She muttered.  
  
"She thought it was because I was so exhausted. She wouldn't listen to me for a while when I woke up, but then I think she realized I wouldn't joke about you being in serious trouble. So she finally let me near the keyboard. The Blackbird wouldn't let me override easily without my control watch." He sighed, his blue eyes faintly darker. "I hate to admit it, but you were right to leave me back there. I'm sorry I was such a pain in the ass."  
  
"De nada." She muttered, glancing up. She fell through the blue again, the emotion which had always been contained to her mind not anymore, swirling around her brain and his, flooding the link, knocking over the wall.  
  
And suddenly she was kissing him, her arms around his neck, fingers tangled in his hair, finally, -finally- giving into it. She gasped, melting into the blueness of his eyes, surrendering at last. She felt his tongue slide past her lips and lost the thread of reality. 


End file.
